The Art of Letting Go
The prerequisite for the vibrant clarity and growth of our deepest desires is letting go.
I regularly contemplate death.
This may sound morbid, but it is a deeply clarifying practice to consider that one’s time on earth is finite, and the exact time we have is unknowable. I often ask myself these two questions:
What would I regret about my life and my choices were I to die tomorrow?
What would I celebrate about my life and my choices were I to die tomorrow?
A bonus question is:
What would I do with my time if I knew I would die in 30 days?
Contemplating death is a catalyst.
I don’t know about you, but I am easily swayed and distracted by shiny objects - otherwise known as things that seem sexy and attractive to focus on because of marketing, culture, or what I see in others’ IG feeds. Contemplating death helps me remember my deepest-held values and what it means to me to live a good life.
Without fail, I always find that when I look at the landscape of my life through the lens of death, there are always things, relationships, activities, ideas, or energies - all manner of things - ready to be released.
The willingness to let go of what no longer serves is vital.
How can we expect to create more of the life we truly desire if we cannot let go? Once we know what we wish to move toward or create, we must be willing to make potentially hard choices to let go to make room for what we want.
And, let’s be clear - it can be fairly straightforward to release aspects of our lives that we aren’t enjoying. However, when we look at our lives through the lens of death and limited time, energy, and capacity, the truth is that we are often looking at letting go of things that we like, or maybe even love, in favor of the more urgent desires of the heart and soul.
What dream is calling you?
We become much clearer and more convicted on our path when we follow the great spiritual traditions and regularly contemplate death as a way to connect to our deeper, more urgent desires for ourselves and the world. Then, we must surrender to letting go, clearing space, to grieving what must be released when a new dream is born that requires our time, attention, and love.
You are invited to contemplate death and allow this contemplation to clarify what you will say yes to in the new year, and what you must release to bring your dreams to life. Tell me everything in the comments.