Letting Go – In my own words!
By Ashleigh Stewart

What do we mean in healing when we talk about `letting go'? Everywhere we turn to get some help in healing, all we hear is people preaching to us "you must let it go!" This probably sounds like a very nice idea to the person who seeks guidance and I do agree with whomever it is that is preaching this statement, but to the person who is the one in need of healing, just what on earth does it really mean?

The average human is most likely to have already spent much of their life denying, suppressing or perhaps not even acknowledging the fact that he/she does have issues which are causing problems. Many of these problems are likely to have risen from the experiences they have passed through in their life until now because they haven't been handled or understood well.

If we were to suggest `letting go' of the experience as a means of healing to any human, what do you think they will perceive that to mean? In my opinion, the meaning of letting go in their eyes is likely to reflect just the way that their life and experiences have been handled in the first place! By applying ignorance, denial and by simply not acknowledging what is actually going on by choosing to forget about it and turn a blind eye on their situation. You know what they say after all, ignorance is bliss!!

When we talk about what it means to `let go' of an experience, what does that mean to you? Personally, my first perception of this was "let go, does that mean to ignore my experiences or to simply forget about them and they will go away?" Does `letting go' mean to simply forget about whatever it was or what is causing the problem in our life? In reality no it doesn't. However, as I mentioned before, to the average human who has spent most of their lives ignoring their issues, this theory of `letting go' most probably seems like a great and easy way to get out of handling their problems head on.

So let's get this straight, just what is this `letting go'? To be honest, I have heard from so many sources that "letting go is the answer", but nobody ever seems to explain what it really means very well. They claim that this is the solution we are all looking for to help us heal ourselves from the burden of our experiences. My question is how can this be when `letting go' can be so easily confused with ignorance. Was it not by us being ignorant human beings that we landed up in the mess of confusion in life in the first place? Think about it!

Now, I want you to think for a moment about what your own idea of `letting go' means. Think of it well and hold it in your mind for now. I will now go on to explain what I have personally come to understand in my own experience from applying this theory of `letting go' in my life. Try to see how it compares with your ideas.

When doing this, remember, we do in fact, as humans, understand and perceive life according to our own individual maturation and evolution according to the experiences we have passed through in life. Do not feel ever feel bad, guilty, or punish yourself in any way if you realize that you are one of those humans who thought `letting go' meant taking the easy way out of handling an experience, because, guess what, I did too and that is why I am writing this article today!! I would not have been able to understand my own theory had I not experienced it for myself, so there you go!!

Learning about what `letting go' really means and actually being able to apply it in your life is a process which requires your complete awareness. This process must be approached gracefully and with your full patience in order for it to work. The first secret to `letting go' is acceptance. You must be able to fully accept the circumstances which do or have surrounded you in your life. Unquestionably!

Acceptance is aided by understanding, by understanding that life itself is a process. Although you might feel that the circumstances you are handling in life either at the moment or in terms of your past are not appropriate to how you truly desire to be living in life, you must accept that your life path must be allowed to follow the process toward making a shift in order that changes can occur and this can take time.

You see, as soon as you make the decision to begin healing yourself, you are giving your guides or the universe or whatever term you like, the green light to go ahead and bring forth the experiences that are necessary in order to encourage your healing thus changing your life in the process. This is an extremely simple explanation of the whole process but it is enough for you to hear to give you a push do what you have to do. As long as you are working on yourself with a good intention, then all you require in terms of assistance will be provided to you.

It is so often said the truth reveals itself in layers. Well, this is true and it is not only true in cases of us having spiritual teachings and hearing big fancy words of enlightenment! The reason I say this because this is what we so often associate `so called' spirituality with. That is, `spirituality' in our eyes being `fluffy' words of truth, love, light and wisdom! Well, let me shed some light on that for those of you who think you can earn your wisdom and enlightenment from attending classes, seminars, workshops and lectures about spirituality. You are mistaken! If you really want to become an enlightened human being then you only have to go inward, and I mean it. Our life circumstances and experiences, yes, the ones that we are all having such difficulty in understanding provide the best workshops we could ever attend and we are our own best teachers. Yet, this is so only if we are able to understand the purpose of having such experiences in the first place!

So, with that in mind we are really kidding ourselves if we think we are ready to learn about what it means to be `spiritual' or I prefer to say, `consciously aware' of our reason for being here, if we are still unable to handle our life experiences in the first place? We would not graduate from university with a degree without first passing high school would we? So why are we so eager to delve into understanding the universe when it seems that we are unable to understand our own existence here as a race of humans here on earth carrying the responsibility of our own small individual fragment of life amongst the big picture.

So all that growth, wisdom, enlightenment and being `spiritual' as everyone so `fashionably' likes to put it, does is in fact evolve out of us being able to handle, accept and understand the essence of our life experiences in the first place. This is true whether you like it or not. We must begin to grow first by understanding the essence of own purpose here we can ever evolve further and, I'm sorry but there are no short cuts available either!

So with all this in mind, it leads me to another secret of being able to `let go' and that is what I spoke of previously about being aware of your purpose for being here in the first place. We all are a spirit, manifest inside a physical human body which serves that spirit as vehicle through which it can experience life here. Spirit is a manifestation of energies which come from our soul. These energies are specific to the experiences and evolution particular to the souls chosen life path and evolution which it intends to achieve within the stretch of the lifetime.

In reality life is a process which serves our soul as a means of gathering knowledge, wisdom and understanding of our existence here in the physical world. This is necessary in order for the soul to evolve into higher states of being in other dimensions of the universe. Our life here, in short, is the soul's school room, if you like, where all the experiences we embark upon serve the soul and its evolution.

Now this may or may not make sense to you. In fact, you may believe that this is an absolutely ridiculous explanation of life, but, think about it well and see if you can come up with any better ideas of why we are here. If any of you are able to come up with anything that makes more sense then please, let me know! As you have probably realized by now, I do have a very open mind and I am open to consider any alternatives!

Take a look around. Look at yourself, the people you know, watch the news and make your self really aware of what is going on in the world today then think about what I have said. You do not owe anything to me to agree with and convert to my beliefs. It is after all your own free will in the end and it will not sway me otherwise. However, think about yourself and where you are going in life with all of what you have experienced. That is all I ask of you here!

Now, even if you do not understand much of what I have said on a conscious level so far, just consider it without judgment for a while and you might see that somewhere deep inside, something will `click'! On the other hand, if you do understand by really `knowing' what I mean and it feels right to you then begin to live that life and trust it because this is the true essence of your being!

Now, getting back to learning to `let go' I would like to mention the importance of placing no blame upon anyone involved in your experiences, that includes you! You must not feel guilty either.

Blame and guilt are both bred from judgment. Where there is judgment, there is limitation and where you create limitation and judgment there is no room for growth, thus, you lose the essence of the whole experience in the first place! So, what is the point?

Last but definitely not least, you must learn to forgive. Forgive yourself and all of the other people who were or are involved in any part of your experiences that have ever harmed or abused you. Think back to what I said earlier that humans act according to their own growth and maturation. Perhaps those people who hurt you are only living according to their own understanding of life and the experiences they have passed through themselves.

If on the other hand you know they are abusing you or taking you for granted as a means of manipulation, you still must forgive them without judgment. However, it is your own responsibility to handle a circumstance like this accordingly by never allowing it to happen to yourself again. There is a huge lesson for you to learn under such a circumstance.

In the end life is only an experience and if you have difficulty understanding and accepting what I have said then consider this. The people who have hurt you, abused you and mistreated you in any way, even those who you'd consider to be your worst enemy are in fact the people you are blessed to have in your life. Why do I say this? Well, simple, because these are the one who will provide you with the most growth in the end. They are your soul mates too! In reality, our worst experiences are our best assets as these are the ones who provide us with the most growth. However, this is so as long as we are able to handle them properly by learning what we must from them and moving on emotionally unbound into new experiences in the future.

This is how we should be living ideally. The reason we must let go is because if we do not then we will stagnate in our growth by hanging onto the experiences of our past. We will never move on in life if we persist in doing this and I do believe that this is one of the major problems which we are facing as an entire human race today. I am not asking anyone to convert to my beliefs. That is not my business. All I ask is that you consider what I say and at least try it. I did and both my self and my life have changed dramatically as a result.

Your life is a gift, experiences are a gift and your worst experiences are the greatest gift your soul can ever bring to you, so just allow yourself to let go and grow up a little bit and you'll see what a difference it makes. Also, when you change your circumstances and the people around you will change according to you. Just give it a try and you'll see for yourself!

Ashleigh is a keen writer and is involved in writing for an internet web site called `The Free Spirit Centre'. This site is focused primarily on healing, personal growth and `human' issues. Her contribution to the site is by means of her writing articles based on her own life experiences and by some editing of the other writers' work. Visit her site at www.freespiritcentre.info