re-Invent

Letting go is simply to stop holding on to something. It all sounds so simple but the process of letting go has to be the cover child of things easier said than done. 

In his book Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender, Dr David R. Hawkins states “letting go involves being aware of a feeling, letting it come up, staying with it, and letting it run its course without wanting to make it different or do anything about it. It means letting the feeling be there and to focus on letting out the energy behind it”. So if that's all it takes to be free why doesn't one just do it? One holds on to offenses and spend their time punishing the people that hurt  them in their minds, they tend to holds on to mistakes they made in the past, beating themselves up about it or thinking of various ways they could have done better. The idea of moving on from a loved one that has died or a relationship that has turned toxic feels like a betrayal of love, hope and faith. They hold on to things with the idea that they will probably need it one day  or they’ll get around to fixing it. They try to keep the best times of their lives going, “forever 16” syndrome I call it. They have difficulty and even sometimes flat out refuse to release authority or change the grand plan when things don’t seem to be working out. The feelings of power, control, purpose, security etc. in essence are not wrong they're actually very necessary for human cognitive function. All these feelings allow one to exercise their personal freedom and allow them to make healthy choices. 

However, the problem comes in when these feelings supersede their normal functions and become toxic to ones-self and even infringe on others rights to these feelings. They want to control others opinions of them thus infringing on others function of perception, they want to hold on to offenses and even retaliate and so hindering the process of social development, they want to hold on to authority as so disrupt the process of social responsibility,they hold on to delusions of grandeur based on past successes or moments when they received a lot of attention or approval and  become a social pariah and tend to exhibit sociopath and narcissistic behaviour. What are normal and even necessary feelings for cognitive functions turn into negative emotions that become deeply embedded in ones subconscious  and alter ones personality and even physical health. People who have trouble letting go are known to develop anxiety disorders, hoarding disorders, sleep dysfunction ulcers and other gastrointestinal issues, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, skin conditions, colds and infections, narcissism, toxic empathy, sociopath traits, cancer etc.

After realizing how holding on can be a poison one would probably ask how to let go? Dr Hawkins further states “The first step is to allow yourself to have the feeling without resisting it, venting it, fearing it, condemning it, or moralizing it. It means to drop judgement and to see that it is just a feeling. The technique is to be with the feeling and surrender all efforts to ,modify it in any way. Let go of wanting to resist the feeling. It is resistance the keeps the feeling going. When you give up resisting or trying to modify the feeling, it will shift to the next  feeling and be accompanied by a lighter sensation. A feeling that is not resisted will disappear as the energy behind it dissipates.” My understanding of this would be to picture oneself as a channel and the feeling or feelings as water that flows through where we resist the feeling(s) we create a dam. The feelings keep flowing in but not out, the channel is blocked eventually the stagnant water becomes contaminated, one becomes filled with contaminated feelings, now thought and is now considered contaminated or toxic. Because they have not allowed a healthy flow, everything they give out is contaminated. He further says” when letting go, ignore all thoughts. Focus on the feeling itself, not on the thoughts.

Thoughts are merely rationalizations of the mind to try and explain the presence of the feeling. The real reason for the feeling is the accumulate pressure behind the feeling that is  forcing it to come up in the moment. The thoughts or external events are only an excuse made up by the mind As we become more familiar with letting go, it will be noticed that all negative feelings associated with our basic fear related to survival and that all feelings are merely survival programs that the mind believes are necessary. The letting go technique undoes the programs progressively. Through the process the underlying feeling becomes more and more apparent..” Letting go requires a realization of the impermanence of feelings and time itself. When one dwells on a feeling or feelings, it becomes an emotion that is then deposited as a mind virus in the subconscious which in turn works against the very freedoms one Is trying to protect in the first place. Feelings act as a test one takes before matriculating to the next stage of life and how well one one handles them determines how soon the matriculation happens. If one does not matriculate they become stuck in that time and those the body ages the mind does not and instead rots in turn rotting the body as well, holding on leaves one in a zombie like state.

It takes a lot of surrendering to let go but contrary to popular belief surrendering is the greatest act of power and control one to exhibit. The choice to move one from a time of great success and experience other successes to come, to release an idea of how they thought things would go and embrace how they are going, to release authority of a situation and take on other responsibilities, to accept a relationship is over and appreciate the lessons or let go of a loved on that has passed and open up to new love and relationships. To forgive an offense and think of the person without bitterness or vengeance. Letting go allows room for more and an even better version of the experiences one feels compelled to hold on to, more advance feelings of love, joy, appreciation, approval, security, power and so on.