Letting Go
Whether we are talking about a career transition, relationships, or a new business idea, the old adage that “opportunity knocks when you least expect it” frequently rings true. Think for a moment right now when you were struggling to make a change in your life or to reach a goal, and that really, everything fell into place once you let go and stopped looking or working quite as hard for it.
Whether we are hoping to acquire new clients, meet the man or woman of our dreams, or simply boil a pot of water – it somehow seems to happen with more ease when we actually let it go and stop focusing on the goal and our attachment to it.
I have a memory of being home the summer after sophomore year of college, feeling particularly miserable about my weight and how I looked. I enrolled in a nutrition program at our local gym. I painstakingly worked through the summer, each morning eating my bran flakes with a banana and skim milk…a powerbar as a snack a few hours later…then my turkey sandwich for lunch… I slowly lost weight – about a half a pound a week. The nutritionist insisted that I was doing well and was right on track. I was exercising, and she pointed out that my body fat percentage was dropping as well. I certainly was not seeing results as fast as I wanted, but I had lost about five pounds by the end of the summer.
That fall I went back to school and was very busy. I crammed in five classes, as I had added a second major and planned to go abroad in the spring. I came home that Thanksgiving and had lost another five pounds. Wow! How did that happen?! I certainly had not been sitting around each day looking at the clock until it was time for my next scheduled feeding!
Looking back, I see how I had finally let it go, and that is when it all fell into place. On the one hand, this shift took place because I didn’t think twice anymore about the routine of how, when, and what I was eating – after having done it for three months, I had adopted it as an unconscious habit. And, on the other hand, occupying myself with other thoughts and activities allowed me to release myself of the obsession and preoccupation with losing the weight and of the negative thoughts in my head about my appearance and my progress. This shift actually helped me to succeed in reaching my goals.
A client who works from home was asking me – how am I going to do this?! How can I be at home all day in a house full of food and lose weight? I told her that we would preoccupy her body and her mind until she let go of those thoughts and habits. Then, just like riding a bike or driving a car, this new train of thought or behavior would become second nature. She would become accustomed to eating and enjoying her food when she was hungry and then move on with her day, no longer preoccupied with the food that was in the kitchen all day, with what she wanted to eat but shouldn’t or with what she had just eaten to ruin all of her efforts.
She smiled at the thought of that freedom – of just letting go and moving on.
Close your eyes, take in a deep breath and let it out…just let it go. This is a new year for us. Doesn’t it feel great to begin it so refreshed?