“The secret to happiness is letting go” - The Buddha
Most of us have already spent too much time chasing happiness. Most of us get bogged down by the slightest change in our lives. Most of us are still searching for answers to a million dollar question “how to live a happy life?”
Though the answer to this question lies in front of us, it is we who fail to recognize it. Happiness is not something you can chase and get. Happiness is within us. Happiness is letting go, of all things that put you down and stunt your growth. In the art of letting go, you truly become happy and content in life. But what exactly should you let go of?
Here is a list of 12 things that you could let go and get better. Keep reading to find out more.
Let Go of Trying to Control – Replace it with alert excellence
You can’t control anything or anyone! The only thing you can control is yourself, your actions and your attitude. Accept this harsh truth and let go of the need to be in control all the time. It is the hardest thing to do, but once over it, you can truly start to transform yourself. Replace the desire to control with the drive for excellence, excellence in your profession, excellence of knowledge in your field, excellence in personal psychological and emotional hygiene (supporting only the best ideas and emotions in ones system), excellence in interpersonal interactions (coming from a place of openness and empathy towards all). It’s only when we are unsure of our own capabilities that we seek to control the people and circumstances.
Let go of Trying to Please People - Replace it with acceptance of yourself
Pretending to be someone else in front of others only takes you away from your true self. The more you try to please someone, the farther you get away. Also, it is hard to please everyone. There will at least one person who will still be unhappy with the way you are. Liberate yourself from doing the same and learn to accept your true self! Accepting yourself doesn’t imply a freezing into a permanent state on the contrary it allows you to identify your flaws, your traits and characteristics in relation to your dreams and desires hence allowing for a true correction or a transformation if the need be.
Let Go of Bitterness – Replace it with empathy
Unless you walk in someone else’s shoes, you don’t know why they behave the way they behave. So don’t get upset about small things. It might hurt you, but learn to look past it. Once you start letting go of the bitterness, the feeling of being free is just amazing! Meet people and circumstances with a genuine empathy.
Let Go of the Ego driven rigidity – Replace it with present moment awareness
An apology doesn’t make you small, neither does forgiveness. Try to build an authentic connection with people. Cut off that ego from your life. It will be the beginning of your healing process. Though it might seem a very arduous task in the beginning once you begin to operate from the present moment awareness even for a few moments within a day its fruits of joy, peace and clarity would be so addictive that you would automatically strive for more.
Let Go of Resentment – Replace it with Gratitude
Learn to be grateful in life. Rather than counting what you don’t have, be appreciative of what you have. In that sense of gratitude, you will find a completely new self, acknowledging the world and accepting the beauty of life.
Let Go of Trying to Be Perfect – Replace it with focus on excellence
Most people squander their lives in the quest for perfection. But the result is always that of disappointment. Making mistakes is what makes us humans. It is an essential part of learning and growing in life. Embrace your flaws and understand that you are a “work in progress” and hence excellence should be the only focus as the very definition of excellence like you is also a “work in progress”.
Let Go of Unhealthy Relationships – Replace it with the idea of enriching others
There is an old quote which reads “We become who we hang out with”. In good company, you grow, in bad, well we all know how that ends. If you get stuck in unhealthy relationships that provide you nothing but negativity and unhappiness, you should let go of it, immediately. Even though you might truly love them and the process can be painful, but it is pivotal to distance yourself, at least psychologically if not physically, from such people if you want to be happy. These relationships only drain you, thus, preventing you from being happy. Focus on transforming yourself first then investing positivity in the relationship and then awaiting transformation within them too. Don’t be in a relationship to take anything just be there to give your best and still if things don’t work out then take the difficult decision of quitting.
Let Go of “Not enough” consumerism – Replace it with clear goals towards fulfilment
We seem to be mistaking consumerism for success and fulfilment. Yes, we need money to survive in society and there is nothing wrong with having a good house, a luxury car etc but what’s wrong is a false belief that these things would make us feel better about ourselves or fulfil us . A good job, a big car, an expensive house and all things material can make you happy and comfortable (physically) for a while, however, if you truly want to be happy in life, you have to let go of the idea of seeking fulfilment via consumerism and start focusing on activities that align with your long term goals and vision of your life.
Let Go of The Fear Of Failure – See Failure as an inevitable teacher on the path to success
One of the top motivational speakers of the world Zig Ziglar once said, “If you learn from defeat, you haven’t really lost”. This <a href="
http://www.thepossibility.in/">motivational quote</a> talks about letting go of fear. Stop fearing that you will fail. Failure isn’t ultimate until you allow it to be. It only shows that you need to try one time, probably with a different approach or technique or diligence, that’s for you to figure out. So, stop treating it as something negative instead start seeing it as an integral part of the process. Use it as a fertilizer for your growth (although repulsive and unsightly it is extremely nutritious for the plants).
Let Go of Comparison With Others – Replace it with focus on yourself
There are 7 billion living on this planet, and everyone is unique in their own way. You can’t compare your happiness, sadness or even your success and failures to someone else’s. You need to stop comparing yourself to others. Instead, start focusing on your negativities and work on getting better. Comparison with others causes nothing but pain and a sense of failure. It is time to let go of comparison and shifting the focus from the other to yourself.
Let Go of the Past – Replace it with a fresh and immersive experience of the present
If you truly want to be happy in life, you have to let go of your past. You have to stop holding on to the baggage of the bygone. You have no control over your past; what is gone is gone. Rather start focusing on the present. Once you learn to deliberately focus on today, the world will become beautiful. Everything that seemed mundane will be sweet. It is about time, you move forth in life! Appreciate everything you have to truly understand the mystery of life. It’s not that the past clings to us, it’s just that we have chosen to be uninvolved with the present and hence have too much of our psychological and energetic space available for the past to keep playing in a loop. If we were to get intensely involved with the present moment past would be a thing of the past!!!
Let Go of Expectations – Replace it with your confidence in yourself
Stop expecting from others! Most of our troubles exist because of the expectations we have created from others. When the expectations are not met we feel let down or even betrayed. Stop expecting how friends and spouses ought to be or behave. Stop expecting how the specifics of every situation should turn out to be, stay focused on the outcome. When we become confident in our ability to handle life come what may the expectations drop automatically. So again the focus is on ourselves, how we can be better, how can we refine ourselves further and further more. Focus on self-improvement and everything in life will start falling into the right place.
“Letting go” is not easy! It is the most difficult thing one has to ever do in life. The road to letting go is difficult, however, persevere, don’t give up, and keep moving forward because it’s absolutely worth it. You will get there faster than you expect. It is a journey that will teach you <a href="
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