By 5 THINGS YOU LEARN AS YOU LET GO OF THE UNCONTROLLABLE
By Angel Chernoff
NOTE TO SELF: Things will continue to happen that are unexpected, undesirable, and uncontrollable. But YOU CAN choose to take the next step…
Closing the door, completing the chapter, turning the page, etc.—it doesn’t matter what you title it; what matters is that you find the strength to leave in the past those parts of your life that are over and changed. Right now, it’s all about embracing the truth: What has happened is uncontrollable; what you do now changes everything!
Of course, knowing this and actually living a lifestyle that reinforces this truth are two very different things. Letting go of the old way is NOT easy—it’s a journey that’s traveled one day at a time. But if you start today and stick with it, here’s what your journey will ultimately teach you in the weeks ahead:
1. The most powerful changes happen in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over everything you don’t.
2. Most people make themselves unhappy simply by finding it impossible to accept life just as it is presenting itself right now.
3. The secret to getting ahead today is to focus all of your energy not on fixing and fighting the old and unchangeable, but on building and growing something new and different.
4. Stepping onto a brand new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation that no longer fits, or no longer exists.
5. Letting go doesn’t mean you don’t care about something or someone anymore. It’s just realizing that the only thing you really have control over is yourself at this moment.
Think about how these points relate to your life right now.
Your present response is always more powerful than your present circumstance. A part of your life is unquestionably decided by completely uncontrollable circumstances right now, yet the vast majority of your life is decided by your responses to these kinds of circumstances. Thus, the goal isn’t to get rid of all your painful thoughts, feelings or life circumstances. That, of course, is impossible. The goal is to change your response to them starting today…
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 present. You are not what happened to you. You are what you choose to become in this moment. Let go, breathe, and begin…
