Letting Go.

We hear these words all the time. . . ."you need to let that go”, “its time to let go of him/her”.  We say these words all the time. . . .”I have let go of it”, ”I really want to let go of it/him/her”.  I’m sure we have all said it a FEW times!!  What “letting go” means may be different for each one of us, but for me I know it is not enough to just say it, I need to FEEL it!  In my personal experience I have usually said it hundreds of times before I get to the feeling part :), but only when I am finally able to feel it do I truly let it go. Is there something you are hanging on to right now? An event, a conversation, a situation, a person, a place, and have you said at least once that you have let it go, but really have not? If you answered yes then believe me you are not alone. So how can we all get to that place of truly letting go?  It may not be the same thing every time or for everyone but I can tell you a few things that work for me. As an eternal optimist I can easily glorify the person, event, situation, etc and see only the good things from it.  I know this is probably unusual as most people would be the opposite and focus only on the bad (which I do sometimes as well), but the repercussions are exactly the same.  We are not seeing it clearly for what it really is/was.  I need to work at very clearly examining the facts, this means giving equal thinking time to both the good and bad.  How did it serve me and how did it not serve me? Have I learned what I needed to learn from it? Am I better or worse because of it?  Why am I hanging on? Again I can not emphasize enough that you need to do this in a non-emotional factual way and be honest with yourself.  Write it down if you need to; make a pros and cons or negative/positive list, sometimes seeing it written down helps.  It’s all about changing your mindset. The other thing that works for me is to see the person (if there is one involved) face to face.  I find it important to feel their energy, even if the conversation is not about the event, situation, etc. Just being in their presence, feeling their energy can often trigger something for me.  Mostly I am able to see that I have created a totally different story in my head than this person has and it gives me perspective. The other way I have been able to let go is when I have reached a threshold of stress or anxiety. I’m sorry to have to tell you this but the saying, “it is darkest before the dawn” sometimes needs to happen before we can truly let go of certain things.  What I can happily tell you, is that in every case (sometimes it has taken me a long time) when I have finally been able to FEEL the letting go, it has always been lasting and the best thing for me.  It brings with it a deep feeling of peace and contentment and opens up the space for other good things to come into my life. Who wouldn’t want a little more peace, contentment and good things in their life?  I DO!