Why Letting Go Is Key to Your Pursuit of Happiness

I find Sunday mornings are perfect for reflecting on the previous weeks intention. In doing so, I can assess with compassion areas of my life to improve. For instance, last weeks intention was to respond and not react to the situations I was presented with. I achieved my goal in some respects, but there were incidents where I fell or nearly fell short.

• Losing my temper and shouting at my son, who left the water distiller unattended, bubbling away uncovered, coating the walls, worktops and utility room cupboards with water vapour.

Thankfully I avoided an argument because I had the presence to notice my reaction and was able to respond with understanding towards his forgetfulness.

• Refraining from the urge to send a colleague an email telling them what I thought about their communication because I was unimpressed with how they had taken my statements out of context to suit their agenda.

Luckily I put space in between my initial reaction and gave myself time to process and understand where my colleague may have been coming from.

In reflecting on these situations, I understood and remembered that while I set my intention, these incidents of me wanting to react happened because I am human and not perfect.

This art of becoming devoid of attachment and learning to detach is where we find peace, contentment and happiness.

It’s funny how the world has a habit of reminding you; you are not perfect whenever you dare to think in this way.

So why the intention to respond and not react?

Well, it is because I am a firm believer we are individually responsible for creating and finding our happiness. In and amongst the values I hold with high regard are kindness, peace and contentment. I recognise core to these virtues is our sense and understanding of mindfulness and compassion.

Mindfulness teaches us to be present, to absorb and enjoy the now. In doing so, we notice and respond to what’s around us and become immersed in our natural flow. In contrast, compassion teaches us to accept all that we and others are because we are human.

I know, if we can be mindful from a place of openness and gratitude, we enter into blissful and happy moments.

But here is the thing, mindfulness requires us to constantly practice and assess our awareness to accept and respond to an ever-changing now gracefully. Now is never static, so being mindful requires us to admit that our now is a fleeting moment. Each moment we accept, we must also learn to let it go.

Letting go is a difficult concept to grasp in a physical world, but we need to learn to trust and surrender to life. So often, because of our fear to detach, we hold on to that which no longer serves us. As a consequence, we unnecessarily suffer.

Life constantly teaches us that at some point, we must let go. We must let life, energy and our feelings flow through us. This art of becoming devoid of attachment and learning to detach is where we find peace, contentment and happiness.

So with this thought, I hope to carry into my new week the intention it is better to respond and let go, and if I fail, it won’t be because of trying but because I am human.

Thanks for reading. I wish you, wherever you are in your week, a week full of blessings and fun. 😊

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