A while back I wrote a post about the concept of ‘letting go’. (See Letting Go Isn’t Giving Up)
At the time I was learning about the power that comes from trusting in the infinite. I believe that all things in the universe conspire for our good and that our desires are continually unfolding, although we may not understand the mechanics of why things happen the way they do.
As Voltaire poignantly said: “Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.“
Notice that he didn’t say that faith is believing in defiance of reason… true faith encompasses reason, but also extends beyond it. While we cannot understand everything with our mental faculties alone, faith offers us an understanding of truth that involves both our minds and our hearts.
“It’s only with the heart that one can see clearly. That which is essential is invisible to the eye.”
In short, our minds may not be able to figure everything out, but we can know exactly what we need to do through inspiration. As we trust it, and act accordingly, our actions will often bring the understanding that our minds crave. It’s just a matter of taking that step in faith.
“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
If that first step is taken in faith – meaning without fear, or disregard for reason – the illumination will follow.
A Deeper Perspective On Letting Go
Since I wrote the original post, though, I have learned a few other things.
Namely, that letting go is a paradox.
My first instinct of letting go is a visual of my hand opening up, letting go of a bird, and watching it fly away. With that in mind, it’s easy to think of letting go being a process of losing, or missing out.
It’s only with the heart that one can see clearly.
What I have since learned, however, is that it is only when our hand is open that we can receive. If our first is clenched tightly, afraid to lose what we have, we limit our ability to receive and we are destroy the possibility that whatever we may be holding on to will actually want to stay on it’s own. Our fear of losing what we have makes it impossible to see that what we have may actually want to stay with us without our needing to hold on to it.
In short, our inability to let go – whatever it may be: love, success, etc – is what prevents us from truly enjoying what we have. If we are so afraid of losing that we have to cling to it, then it won’t be too long that our fears will fuel resentment, suspicion and unrest… in ourselves and in what we are trying so desperately to hold on to.
The old adage may sound cliche, but it’s true:
If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, its yours forever. If it doesn’t, then it was never meant to be.
On one hand, if we let it go and it doesn’t come back, we have truly loved it by allowing it what it needs. It cannot truly be love if we hold on to something merely because we fear losing it… instead, that is selfishness and is driven by lack.
On the other hand, however, how sweet a feeling to release your fears of losing and to let something go, in love and respect for it’s well-being, only to find that it has no interest in going away.
It’s my belief that if we learn to stay in the present moment, to act in faith and let go of our need to control, that everything we are seeking will show up in exactly the right time.
