Let it Go!

In Order to Grow

Tomorrow I’m having dental surgery: two teeth with prior root canals that are acting up and one wisdom tooth extraction while we’re at it. By the time you are reading this on Tuesday, I’ll be past the bags-of-frozen-peas-on-my-face stage and hopefully moving from liquids to bona fide food, even if mushy.

While having to lose these teeth wouldn’t have been my first choice, I’m seeing the silver lining in the situation thanks to my chiropractor, Karen Lalli¹. She told me that this means I’m ready for another round of letting go and she wasn’t just referencing the obvious (letting go of my infected teeth). Karen was reminding me of a lesson I’ve learned: life is a continual cycle of letting go in order to grow.

The Floor Will Be There to Meet You

It’s easy to rattle off all the things you think you need to start doing to get something done or attain a certain goal. While of course taking action is essential, it’s equally important to ask: What do I now let go of?

Here is how Don, a client in the process of starting a business, answered this question: I now let go of allowing the feeling of having to be safe (self-preservation) stop me from taking action and moving forward. Instead, I will trust that “the floor will be there to meet me” when I pick up my foot to move. What a great metaphor of the floor being there to meet him, reminding him that he will be supported as he moves forward.

What other kinds of things might be on your Let Go list? Here are some examples: a negative way of thinking, an approach that hasn’t been working, an idea of how you think something should have played out, feeling badly about falling short of an expectation you had, a business strategy that’s not getting results, a job or role that no longer fits, a worn-out way of communicating with someone that doesn’t get you anywhere, something weighing you down in your physical environment. We carry around a lot of stuff that at some point, after we’ve learned what there is to learn, it’s time to unload.

Where Are You Clinging?

Use the question, “What can I let go of?” every day and you’ll be amazed at how much this helps you move forward. Allow me to use one more metaphor…the river. When I feel myself clinging to a branch instead of letting go and moving in the current, I remind myself: Let go and trust the river!

Notes:
¹Dr. Karen Lalli maintains a practice in Phoenix, AZ as well as in Westhampton Beach, NY during the summer.