We live in a grasping, striving, competitive culture in which the prospect of letting go is nearly anathema. Those who simply let go and allow whatever force or energy they subscribe to drive the ship are considered naive, short-sighted, and immature. We have dismissive terms for these people: gullible, chuckleheaded, airy-fairy. They’re often avoided because their life strategy is to simply allow things to happen, and this passive behavior not only equates to vulnerability, but it may also be contagious.
Recently, Mariah and I spent a week in the south of Spain attending a conference with our mentor, one of the most dynamic messengers of self-improvement in the world. This woman is such a powerful person, her message is so simple and straightforward, that it can be easily dismissed. And yes, part of that message is the power of letting go. Trying harder, she says, grasping for whatever we desire, clawing it into our lives is not the way to obtain it. Instead, allowing the energy that surrounds us to provide it, and saving energy for more important things like love and enjoyment of our lives may seem a bit simplistic, but it also makes a great deal of sense.
One of the curiosities of orbital flight offers a great analogy. On orbit, when attempting to rendezvous with an object ahead, speeding up will cause us to fall further behind. Increasing speed puts us in a higher thus a slower orbit. The only way to rendezvous with the object ahead is to slow down! Doing this drops us to a lower, faster orbit, allowing us to catch up with that other object. Letting go allows us to obtain what we want or need.
So, the next time you want something, imagine the object ahead, picture it in your mind, and slow down.
Airey-Fairy? It might seem so. Naive and impossible? Many might agree, but there’s plenty of evidence that it works. When grappling with a new idea, product, or system, Thomas Edison used a signature method: He took a nap. Almost without fail, he awoke with a solution. Using such methods Edison allowed his creative mind to prevail and obtained nearly 1,000 patents. Letting go can be the key to getting whatever we want.
