Letting Go of "Letting Go"?

You just can't let go of letting go.

You say it's easy. Kinda like a light switch you can flick off and on.

"Just let it go man!"

Easier said than done. Right?
Easy to reduce things to a recognizable and relatable platitude.

Easy to establish an imaginary construct that acts as an escape hatch from suffering and misery.

How easy is it to simply let go?
To surrender to what is.
To surrender to the present moment.

We get so attached to the concept of "letting go" that we forget to really dig deep into what is burrowing and living within us. We treat it like a defense mechanism by using the letting go concept as a means of brushing things aside or putting off our problems for later.

It seems as if we see the obstacles more as obstacles and less as opportunities for growth. When we become so attached to non-attachment, we divorce ourselves from fully feeling the immense spectrum of our own humanity.

What if we were to let go of the concept of letting go?

This doesn't mean we would embrace irrationality, neurosis and instability, it means fully accepting that sometimes telling ourselves what we think we should do in that fleeting moment is not necessarily the best for our health and growth. It means fully accepting your passing emotions and moods and allowing your body and mind to feel and learn from its full effects. It is embracing the full totality of it all no matter how painful.

How does letting go help us?

How does letting go thrust us into the immense presence of what is?

How does letting go expend our self knowledge ?

It sounds funny and ironic doesn't it?

The idea that you should or can let go of letting go. It comes off as somewhat pretentious and absurd. In a way it is funny. It challenges you to question your thought processes. To question the "why" that pertains to your behaviors and decisions. It challenges you to take a step back and really analyze and witness the deception and awe inspiring nature of thought. Of thought processes and patterns. Of the workings of the unchecked mind.

Here's a little practice.

When an unpleasant thought, feeling or discomfort arises, just let it have its say. Let it get on its soap box and make its case for its passing existence within your head. Listen to the best of your abilities without pushing back. Without resisting. Don't tell yourself you need to "relax" or "let it go". Don't even tell yourself that it will pass. ( It will ). What happens? How does your body respond to it? How does your cheeky monkey mind respond to it? How did it affect your mood? Did your whole perception get skewed? Did your world turn on its head?

Breathe through it. Bring it back to the breath as the discomfort slowly transmutes and dissolves into nothingness.

That patience with discomfort. That willingness to just sit and not run or fight opens up a huge portal into your awareness, self knowledge and a healthy state of being.

So do we really need to let go?

Do we really need to attach ourselves to a dogmatic belief system hinged on the whole idea of the mere attachment to non-attachment?

We tend to get caught in the striving for our "ideal". The ideal of being free from our trivial sufferings. The ideal of being able to be our best and most authentic selves. Within that time of daydreaming, we tend to truly accept ourselves unconditionally at every moment. We tend to look past that where we are right now is where we need to be no matter how painful and hard we make it out to be.

Are you ready to let go?
Why are some things just so hard to let go?

"Letting go assumes that you can't move forward unless you "get rid" or subtract some type of amorphous imaginary construct from your current consciousness."

When we realize we are trying so hard to let go of things in the first place, we bring to light how much we were resisting and struggling to mold the present moment from an abstract and vague set of ideals.

The harder things that you can't seem to "let go" of, come mainly from your struggle with what is and what drama your brain chooses to create. Why are we so anxious to get rid of it? Why are we so determined to become something you think is better when you can't even let it pass on through? When you can accept that simply "trying" to let go is futile and unhelpful, you can begin to understand how your mind works and how presence is key in every self created mental struggle.

Yes, let go of the things that don't serve you, but don't push them away. They are there for a reason telling you that you have unresolved insecurities and issues that must be looked into. They are there to act as teachers for who you are now. Teachers that allow yourself to be present. To be with the madness that runs rampant in your brain. To be with the authenticity and uniqueness that makes you a beaming and breathing flesh phenomenon. A conduit for loving awareness.

You're here now, all you really need to do is show up!

Don't shut the doors on your demons.
Invite them in for tea!

DG