Letting Go
by Pauline Meredith-King
What are you not letting go of?
Two Buddhist monks return to their monastery after the rains. They reach a swollen river and in front of them is an extremely beautiful lady in a delicate silk kimono, distressed because she is unable to cross the river by herself. So, the older monk scoops her up, carries her safely to the other side and the two monks continue on their way in silence. Five hours later, as the two monks reach their destination, the younger monk, literally fuming, bursts out, “How could you do it? You touched a woman; you know we’re not allowed to do that!” The older monk replies, “I put her down 5 hours ago, but you are still carrying her with you.”
There are things we hold on to, people we bear grudges against or perhaps just feel angry or hurt about something or towards someone. Either way while we are doing this we are clouding our mind and preventing ourselves from being or operating at our best.
Letting go is about taking action in the form of forgiving or accepting.
That is… either forgiving or accepting yourself, someone else or an event or happening from the past or what may be perceived to happen in the future.
Letting go is not about condoning a situation or behaviour, it’s about lightening our load. When we do let go, we do exactly that…. let go and relieve ourselves of the burden that is weighing us down. It lets us get on with our lives free to channel that energy into positive outcomes into the future.
We don’t need to know how to let go, we just need to to be willing and just do it. You have no power to change what has been before, however we do possess enormous power within to change our pathway into the future.
That which we find hardest to let go is probable the first thing we need to let go of the most….
TIP: If you need to let go of something YOU’VE done, simply ask, “What do I need to do that will allow me to let this go?” Perhaps you need to make notes in your journal of what you’ve learned, perhaps you need to make some kind of amends, apologise or find a meaningful way to make it up to yourself or someone else.
While we can’t change the past, we can make amends and learn from it and practise the art of letting go