Letting Go.

How much stuff do you hold onto everyday?

I am not talking about what you carry around with you everyday like your wallet or cell phone or keys.  That is a conversation for another time.

I am talking about the things that truly weigh you down, like grudges, regrets and doubts.  How long have you been holding onto those items?

We’ve talking about letting go of material possessions, digital habits and distractions.  It’s time that you let go of the anchor that is keeping you from moving forward.  There is a cheesy saying that tells you to “live in the now” and it is a cheesy saying but it became a saying because it is true.  It’s not always easy to let the past be the past, but you have no other choice but to let it be just that.

As with everything, you have to start somewhere and apropos to this post the best time to start is now.  Think about something that happened recently that you just can’t get out of your mind.  A coworker or friend that said something that rubbed you the wrong way, a piece of writing or assignment that you turned in but don’t feel confident about.  Take out a piece of paper and write this event down, when you are done read what you wrote down.  Now take that paper, crumple it up and throw it away, tell yourself that you are done with it, discarding it in the trash is discarding it in your mind.  Now immediately think about what you are about to do next, or tomorrow morning.  Keeping your mind on the current and future will help you forget the past.  The next time that you see the person that stole your time and part of your mind, talk with them as if nothing had ever been said.  If you receive back that assignment that you doubted, whether it was better or worse than you expected, toss it aside and focus on the next one.

In terms of simplifying and minimizing, your only true space is inside your head and you shouldn’t let other people or things take up your space.  They are not forcing their way in, you are holding on to them, all you have to do to get them out is to let go.  Forgive and forget is a welcome mantra.

As for living in the present, one driving force for me to change my outlook was a simple one.  You can’t control when you will finish something, you can only control when you will start.  So once you’ve started something it will finish when it finishes no matter what you do, so let go and enjoy the ride.  I fall back on this every morning when I am getting ready for work, I used to stress about getting there on time while I was driving, but by the time I was in the car it was too late to do anything about it.  The only thing I could control was when I left, so I would say to myself while backing out of the driveway, “I’ll get there when I get there”.  It may sound silly but it worked for me, once I applied this to my commute, it was easier to apply this to everything that I was doing, and each time that I did, I felt lighter and calmer.

It is what it is, so just let it go.