Have you ever noticed that after something unpleasant happens, you tend to hold onto it throughout the day, week, or even month? It's almost as if the event continues to play out in your mind, even though it ended a while ago. Why is this?
It's always the same story. Something happens that you don't want to happen. Or, something that you wanted to happen doesn't. Put another way, you either didn't get what you wanted, or got what you didn't want. Either way, you're left unhappy because of an external circumstance.
The question is, what do you do next?
The moment passes, and now you're left standing there with a choice. It's a pretty simple choice. You either continue to hold onto the resistance of the previous moment and the narrative that follows. Or, very simply, you let it go.
And here's the thing. No one said it was easy to let go. At least not in all cases. But simple? Absolutely.
If you're not sure how letting go can be simple, have you ever picked up an object, and then put it back down? Well, by relaxing your hand muscles and putting down the object, you're letting it go. It's really basic stuff!
The same goes for our internal narrative, and the resistance we apply to so many situations in our lives. If you direct your attention inward and look closely, you'll notice that you're clenching around so much of what happens, simply because you don't like it.
Someone starts talking to you when you want to be alone. The weather isn't just right for your plans. Whatever it is, if you look closely, you can actually witness the tension you apply, albeit unconsciously, to the situations unfolding around you. This application of tension is what it means to hold onto to something.
The opposite is letting go.
When you let go of something you didn't like, some uncomfortable moment, you simply relax around the inner energies that are holding the event in place. You acknowledge that you don't want this stuff inside of you, because it's ruining your life, and instead, you'd rather let it pass through you.
But we rarely do this. We hold onto things. I hold onto things. Since I've begun to look inward, I've noticed just how much I carry uncomfortable events with me, as if that makes it any more comfortable!
The truth is, it's fully illogical to bring painful memories along, but we all do it anyway. The reason is because we haven't woken up to what we're doing. In a way, it's being done to us, by our habitual actions, and the big culprit, our minds.
With awareness comes the power to change, the power to let go, and the power to be free.
Live with substance!
Gabe Orlowitz
