Someone recently told me something that popped my mind wide open, like uncorking a bottle of extra bubbly, eager-to-be-opened champagne:

“We already have the answers, we just need to shine the light inward to remember them.”

Pop!

And suddenly, like my favorite fizzy wine, I was overflowing with insight; my eyes were wider than wide, seeing everything in a new light.

Cue an assortment of mind-being-blown sound effects.

I couldn’t get over how deeply this statement hit me.

I mean, how often do we assume that we’re destined to struggle and force and seek and try so damn hard to “figure it all out” (whatever that even means)!

Cue frustrated scream.

What if we already know the answers?

What if we can call off the desperate search?

And…speaking of desperate searching, letting go is something many of us struggle with a lot (ahem…yep, I’m guilty!).

But—it doesn’t have to be so hard.

Because we already know how to release things, and we do it all the time in subtle ways, without even realizing it.

So, let’s focus our efforts inward and make it a point to open our inner curtains and unabashedly shine our luscious light inside, as the light cracks the code and reveals the answers.

Here are 17 ways we let go every damn day:

1. Sunrise: we let go of darkness.

2. Sunset: we let go of light.

3. Waking up: we let go of the comfort of our beds.

4.  Crying: we let go of grief through our tears.

5. Exhaling: we let go of breath.

6. Sighing: we let go of frustration.

7. Walking: we let go of each previous step in order move forward.

8. Stretching: we let go of tension.

9. Texting: we let go of the message as we press that alluring “send” key.

10. Listening to music: we let go of one song to hear the next.

11. Making tea: we let go of the tea bag after our beverage is brewed.

12. Driving: we let our foot go from the gas to place it on the brake (and vice-versa).

13. Going to the bathroom: not sure I have to elaborate here (wink-wink-nudge).

14. Smiling: we let go of sadness in order to curl our luscious lips upward.

15. Saying “I love you:” we let go of our egos (if only for a split-second).

16. Making jokes: we let go of seriousness and enter into our silly sides.

17. Compromising: we let go of the need to be right.

…..and many more!

Yep, we are truly experts of letting go, whether we know it our not.

If we really stop and look, our days are filled with subtle transitions: one experience is constantly being released while another blooms, blossoms and enters into us.

It may not always be comfortable, and sometimes we may even liken it to a bully stealing our lunch money as we’re left empty-handed and crying, wondering what the hell just happened.

But comfortable or not, letting go is a part of us, of nature, of life.

It’s beautiful in it’s own (sometimes twisted) way, and the more we respect and embrace it, the more we can enjoy our lives.

And with that, I let go of this article, as I send it out to you beautiful people out there in internet-land.

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Author: Sarah Harvey

Editor: Renée Picard

Photo: alexisnyal at Flickr