Let go of things that make you unhappy
When my cousin’s house was burned down totally to the ground some years ago, I thought he would lose his sunny disposition but I was wrong. He is still the same and still looks at life with vibrant energy, reflecting inner joy and peace. When I asked him his secret, he calmly said, “Why should I look back at the past? The past is gone. What I have now is the present moment. I am more focused in the present moment. I have accepted that any curve ball that life has given us is part and parcel of our journey in this world. I don’t want to be robbed of my joy because of what had happened to me in the past. After all, God is good. He never stops pouring His blessings on us.”
“Most of us have the tendency to hold on to many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress, and suffering, instead of letting them go,” exclaims Luminita Saviuc in the PurposeFairy website. “Instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy we cling to them. Not anymore. Starting today, we will give up on all those things that no longer serve us and embrace those changes.”
Saviuc is telling us to give up things that would make us unhappy. Let’s start with the following:
Give up your need to be always right. There are so many of us who can’t stand the idea of being wrong – wanting to always be right – even at the risk of ending great relationships. It’s not just worth it. Whenever you feel the urgent need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question, “Would I rather be right or kind?”
Give up your need for control. Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that is happening to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc.– whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street. Allow everything and every one to be just as they are and you will feel better.
Give up blame. Give up your need to blame others for what you have and don’t have; for what you feel or don’t feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.
Give up your self-defeating talk. How many people are hurting themselves because of their defeating mindset? Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you, especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that. As Eckhart Tolle, author of the book, The Power of Now said: “The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly; used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.”
Give up complaining. Give up your constant need to complain about many, many things – people, situations, events – that make you unhappy. Nobody, no situations can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it. It’s not the situation that triggers but how you look at it.
Give up the luxury of criticism. Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy. We all want to be loved and be loved. We all want to be understood.
Give up your need to impress others. Stop trying to be hard on yourself by impressing other people. Be yourself. The moment you take off the mask, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find that people will be drawn to you, effortlessly. Love yourself.