Letting Go.
It is said that the ultimate desire of the Buddha was to live without want (which if you think about it is kind of an oxymoron, but I think that’s part of the idea).
I’ve been meditating a lot on that recently, especially as I’m trying to let go of some things right now. Some good things that no longer serve me, some things that have been harmful for me…
And some things that just don’t resonate with me anymore.
Our childhood is a time of learning patterns of behavior. Depending upon the people and the circumstances around us, they could be good patterns, they could be bad, or they could be ones that are just outdated. Sometimes we learn to run from pain, and sometimes we learn that we need to face it head on, whatever the cost.
But some pains are caused by the things we used to hold so dear.
In the coaching world, we often use the phrase ‘limiting belief’ to indicate a thought pattern that someone holds on to out of fear, but that actually holds them back.
Unwilling or emotionally unable to let go, the person persists in a painful pattern of repetitive actions that feed back into more pain, until they are finally able to break free from a belief which held them captive, but is now realized as no truth at all.
Then they begin the long walk upon the path of letting go.
At first it’s scary, because we cling to the belief that we have or be something in order to be loved. We fail to realize that our very sentience, our awareness, our consciousness is all we ever need, and that our divinity, and our nobility, comes not from what we hold, but who we choose to be.
When you understand that, and feel it in your soul, you will have begun to learn the lesson.
And that lesson will drive you forwards, and onwards, and most importantly…. Inwards.
Because the secret of letting go is to change who you are so that you don’t need anything anymore. Then it’s not so much about letting go as it is giving away. When you go inwards, you learn a balancing of the self, a point of peace inside your soul that serves as your foundation for everything that happens next.
Which is when the real work begins.
It starts by focusing on yourself, and learning and coming to terms with who you are. It continues with processing and healing the emotional traumas of your past that have been holding you back, and ends when you learn to become self sufficient in the balance of your emotional needs.
Once you have found peace and significance within yourself, you have no more need for things, or outcomes.
You are free to experience life in every moment, without want, without need.
Just being you, surrendering to the wonder of the universe.
Which is why you are really here anyway.
— Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings