By A FRESH 60-SECOND REMINDER THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR MINDSET (AND SPARE SOME PAIN)
Angel Chernoff
As you read these words, you are breathing. Stop for a moment
and notice this breath. You can control this breath, and make it faster or
slower, or make it behave as you like. Or you can simply let yourself inhale
and exhale naturally. There is peace in just letting your lungs breathe,
without having to control the situation or do anything about it. Now imagine
letting other parts of your body breathe, like your tense shoulders. Just let
them be, without having to tense them or control them.
Now look around the room you’re in and notice the objects
around you. Pick one, and let it breathe. There are likely people in the room
with you too, or in the same house or building, or in nearby houses or
buildings. Visualize them in your mind, and let them breathe.
When you let everything and everyone breathe, you just let
them be, exactly as they are. You don’t need to control them, worry about them,
or change them. You just let them breathe, in peace, and you accept them as
they are. This is what letting go is all about. It can be a life-changing
practice.
At our annual conference, Think Better, Live Better, Marc and I guide
attendees through this process of letting go—and breathing steadily
through life’s twists and turns (you should get an HD recording of the event).
Truth be told, inner peace begins the moment you take a new
breath and choose not to allow an uncontrollable event to dominate you in the
long-term. You are not what happened to you. You are what you choose to become
in this moment. Let go, breathe, and begin again…
