How many times in our live have we lost jobs, relationships, money, friends, opportunities etc., and yet we still survived.

Not only did we survive but we emerged much better and stronger. It gave us wisdom and spiritual strength to stand up again and again no matter what was happening around us.

We all have different ideas and concepts of who we are, who we should be and how we should be acting. However, there comes a time when we have to let go of everything we thought we were in order to lose our false perceived identity we have built for ourself.

We have this concept of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ and this is where the trouble starts.

So many times in life we attach our identity onto people, places, things and situations thinking our sense of happiness and self worth is dependent on them. We think if we have a better career, more money, the perfect relationship, designer clothes and lots of zeros in our bank account then we equate to something and will be accepted by others and ourselves.

Societal conditioning teaches us from a very young age that we should be acquiring certain things in life to present ourselves to the world. We go on accumulating titles, wealth, possessions, relationships and status to prove we exist.

Will we automatically collapse when they are taken away from us?

Will we fall into depression and despondency?

Will we be able to survive if our spouse divorces us or we get fired from out corporate executive job?

So many of us are attached to these things, people and situations and therefore it creates suffering in us when we lose them. 

Change and death are the only guarantees in life that we have and even death is a form of change. Trying to stop change is like trying to stop life itself.

Life is in constant flux and continues to move.

The spiritual truth is we are much more than what we identify ourselves with. We are resilient beings who can withstand the cycles of change and transformation. We don’t have to collapse because we did not make the ‘board’ or our loved one dies unexpectedly. Life has tremendous compassion for us and is always there to support us. It is an opportunity to re-invent ourselves. All we have to do is surrender and trust that we will be guided and taken care of no matter what is happening in life.

Life is intelligent and always knows what is best for us.

Just let go and surrender and see what happens. Something better is in the making for us to elevate us to the next level.

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Relephant Reads:

Letting Go in Relationships: A Buddhist’s View of Attachment. 

She Let Go.  

Author: Sarvasmarana Ma Nithya

Editor: Renee Picard 

Photo: Meg Cheng at Flickr