A Way to Stop, Drop, and Let Go

There are no more reasons to be consumed by matters that cannot change, like people, places, and things.
No, not anymore.
We cannot give way to the ideas that weigh us down or hold us back. Nor can we strive or move or live a better life if we allow ourselves to stay in the infections of troubled thinking.
And so, I have news.
Yes, something will always be out of place.
Life will arrive on time, even if we are late and even if we stall or beg for more time.
Life is always going to move at the same pace.

One minute will always be one minute, and an hour will always be an hour.
None of this will change. However, time is relative, whereas time can fly and moments can pass, and life unfolds whether we like it or not.
We can worry ourselves to death and miss out on the greatest moments that life has to offer. Or we can live right now and change our focus to see something better and strive for something else.

I know there are challenges. I know about financial concerns. I know that life can be hard.
I know the truth hurts.
I understand this.
But nothing has the right to stop us.
No one has the right to hold us back or keep us from improving.

I understand what it feels like to be consumed by anxiety. I know what happens when we always worry, always wonder about the impending doom and, sure, I have my own list of fears and letdowns to contend with.

What if today is the start of something new?
What if we find it within ourselves to break our own cycles?
Could you imagine?

What if this moment is setting the stage for something bigger and better?
Or, wait . . .
What if all we have is about to multiply in ways that go beyond our wildest dreams?

I remember when I was told that sometimes, we have to surrender to win.
We have to let go. We have to stop the suffering and change our thinking.
But how?
I was told to replace my thoughts with action. I was told to start moving.
Take steps. Avoid the mental and emotional intimidations and move.
Go. Be. Do.
These are great words.

I remember being told that we have to accept “what is” in order for us to move on to let this become “what was.” Yes, I believe in the soul’s right to overcome.
I believe in the heart’s ability to recover. I also believe in the personal right to endure the pain and surpass limitations.

I believe in the ability of our mindset, and I believe in the pathways of focus.
I believe in the sameness and the habitual patterns that come when we find ourselves living in the same problems. Yes, I agree that wherever you go, there you are.
No one can run from this.
No one can escape who they are.

I believe in self-propelled failures and self-fulfilled prophecies.
To add more, I believe in the focus bias that steers us into trouble waters.
I believe in the mind’s repetitive nature because we failed to look elsewhere.

Do you understand?
Do you see how we focus on the worst and then the worst manifests itself to become real?
Do you understand how fear can be like weeds?
What do weeds do?
Weeds can be invasive.
Weeds can suffocate the roots of our best interests and like a parasite, weeds can devour our resources and leave us starving.

We all have weeds in our emotional garden.
We all have someone, or something in our life that acts like a weed that prevents us from growing and flowering to our potential.
There is always someone or something that can take away our joy.
This is always possible
(if we let this happen).
I know this all too well.
And so do you.

Therefore . . .
I had to make a choice.

I removed myself from the pack. I stepped away from the unneeded and unwanted people, places, and things that degraded me and my value.
I slid my chair back, stood up, and then I pushed my chair back to the table.
I stood and walked away, and I respectfully declined the tables where I do not belong.
I removed myself from the unworthy fights. Rather than bicker and argue, I chose to take on a fight with a better purpose.  
This is the fight for my life and the fight for my dreams.
We all have our own secret battles.
Or at least, I know that I have mine.

I have hurdles and obstacles and opportunities to change my life.
I don’t care about being tough anymore.
I don’t need to be the person in the spotlight.
I don’t need to have my ego stroked or rewarded.

I don’t need to stand on the superficial grounds of some commercial version of happiness.
Moreover, I do not need to follow someone else’s blueprint of success.
No.
I am here to build my own life.
I am here to build and create my dreams. If necessary, I am here to destroy my doubts because no one is more capable of living my best life other than me.

I am here to invest wisely as opposed to investing poorly.
I say this because I used to invest poorly and emotionally.
I found myself lost in what financial minds would call the sunk cost fallacy.

Rather than accept my losses and invest my time elsewhere, I chose to invest more with hopes that I would find some kind of return on my initial investment.
Only, these investments are not about business.
No, this is about my personal investments.
Rather than accept the loss, I kept trying.
I kept investing because I do not want to face the loss or the rejection.
I kept investing more when, in fact, the loss was already in the cards.
Rather than pull out, I invested more and lost more.
I invested until I faced an emotional bankruptcy because I didn’t want to lose anymore.
But like I said, the loss was already in the cards.
However, I invested blindly until all was lost.
And then?
I found myself bankrupt.

There are times when letting go is the smartest investment.
We cannot live or entertain the things that should have happened.
Whatever should have happened, did happen.
No lies or pretty features will change that fact.

We can’t live in our failures or focus on them forever.
We can recognize them and we can learn from them.
That is all.
We have to stand up and remove ourselves from the equation.

We have to stop the process.
We have to drop the habit.
Above all, we have to let go of the ideas that serve us the least.

One of my favorite Jim Carroll poems says:
“Little kids shoot marbles
where the branches break the sun
into graceful shafts of light . . .

I just want to be pure.”

Thank you, Jim.
I want to be pure too.
Or, on second thought —

I just want to be happy.

This is my focus and so,
this is my new investment.