The Excruciating Miracle of Letting Go: 30 Ways to Open Ourselves up to Abundance.
Gripping tight onto what you have with the fear of losing it will block you from receiving the gifts of massive abundance waiting for you.
Learning this one law of the universe can change your life.
Allowing change, embracing the pivot, seeing the opportunity being presented to you, and opening yourself to the possibilities—these are game-changing ways to shift the energy.
And you can begin the shift right now.
“Start decluttering,” my coach said. “Do the underneath space below your bed, your closets, and your countertops,” she continued. “And don’t forget your stovetop!”
I embraced the habit of physical decluttering with a vengeance after I met her, well into my 40s. Even after Marie Kondo’s book came out, and then the TV show, sparking joy was not on my to-do list at first. At least in terms of the crap cluttering up my closets and junk drawers. Not to mention the thoughts in my head about what was happening in my marriage and my business.
After my divorce, I walked around my cluttered house looking at things that reminded me of the last 20 years, and I just felt overwhelmed. What are the kids going to think if I get rid of that? My mind was as cluttered as my spaces. I worked on that part though, in my journals, day after day.
“I write to Feng Shui my soul.” I used that line on my website, in workshops, and in my email signature. I felt the power of it.
And yet there was about a year’s worth of crap to get rid of in my house. Oh, let’s not forget the business I was running out of my home. The business I kept looking at as my bread-and-butter after the child support ran out. Those mortgage-paying dollars were hard to let go of. It would take a pandemic. If only that was as easy as a trip to Goodwill.
“You better smell the smoke before your house burns down.” Another gem from the same coach a couple of years ago. She was a psychic coach who already gently warned me over the past year that my marriage was stopping my flow.
What did I do about that knowing? I smelled the smoke and attempted to ignore it until I was crawling on the floor trying to find that one-inch layer of air they promised on those Stop-Drop-and-Roll videos, and finally realized there was none left. The chest pains were a clue.
But what if…
When thoughts begin with those three words, it’s a huge awareness that you’re about to self-sabotage your way into Hell.
I had a long list of what-ifs. And it was hell until I learned to pause the mental clutter, just like I’d mastered clearing out the physical clutter. It took me a year in the house: first the closets, each bedroom, then the attic, and finally the garage. I can now park two cars in the garage, thank you very much.
The mental habit of cluttering my system with worst-case scenarios and fear of what might happen was more difficult. Letting go of lifelong thoughts, beliefs, habits, and all of who I was was, well, excruciating.
And it was the biggest miracle of my life.
I’ve learned that letting go makes room for miracles. This especially includes letting go of the labels you think define you. Over my lifetime, those labels included: athlete, straight-A student, college grad, wife, mother, physical therapist, business owner, black belt, daughter, sister, and friend. And it definitely included letting go of jobs, careers, activities, and people who didn’t help me feel like a better person anymore.
I’ve learned that the fear I conjure up during the times I sit around and think about letting go and making those changes is by far much worse than actually making the move. When I take the action with the feeling of fear and get over on the other side of that decision, it’s never truly as bad as I thought it might be. In fact, amazing things begin to happen when I open myself up like that.
Not just okay things. Amazing things.
I chose the “physical therapist” role a long, long time ago—when I was 16 years old. Letting go of that role and label this past year—as I embraced the huge pivot I was faced with when COVID-19 hit and shut down my practice—was the best thing I could have done. It took me four years. I’m not sure I would have done it on my own. When faced with no clients, I embraced “wellness book publisher” with a mighty fierceness. I opened to my intuition, my connection with my inner guide, and the possibility I could continue to live out my purpose by sharing brave words and helping others do the same. I had already been doing it. This was just the shove off the cliff. Who knew…I did have the wings.
The universe had my back this year. I had super-powered wings.
I chose “wife” a long time ago too. When I began smelling the smoke in my relationship, I ignored it until the universe had to get my attention—the hard way. The miracle of being on my own, having to get my sh*t in order, taking care of myself and my kids, and finding out who I am and what I’m made of…well, I consider that to be one of the “life black belts” I’ve earned. That black belt was harder than the nine-hour exam I passed for my actual belt. But it was the mental discipline I learned over those years of martial arts training that came through when it mattered in my life. I learned to let go of thoughts that don’t serve me and focus on those that do.
So when life presents the changes, the struggles, the problems, the seemingly impossible moments, I see opportunities for awareness, for letting go, for surrender, for curiosity, for learning. And for miracles.
I don’t dwell on what-ifs anymore. I feel into the uncertainty, and I sit and wait for the miracle.
Letting go can be physical, and it’s for sure mental. And that whole process is all spiritual. The mind-body-spirit tool of letting go of something good for something better begins with the awareness and then ends with whatever the thing is you need to let go of—thought, belief, husband, job, career, pair of pants that’s two sizes too small…
Here are 30 ways to do that:
1. Let go of your extra sh*t.
2. Clean the clutter from your house.
3. Clear your mind of what-ifs.
4. Clear your mind of what you think you know.
5. Let go of who you think you are.
6. Let go of what you’re making the reality of your present moment mean.
7. Clean up your bad habits.
8. Let go of any piece of clothing you haven’t worn in a year.
9. Let go of jealousy.
10. Let go of “meh” and align with joy.
11. Let go of broken, cracked, torn, or worn out things.
12. Let go of things you don’t really love.
13. Let go of people who don’t respect you.
14. Let go of jobs that make you feel miserable.
15. Let go of being right.
16. Let go of the opinions of others that don’t help you evolve.
17. Let go of the disappointments, the grudges, the regrets.
18. Release the need to be perfect.
19. Let go of mediocre attempts.
20. Let go of trying.
21. Release the need for approval.
22. Clear your entryways, doorways, hallways, and corners.
23. Clean your workspaces, cooking spaces, and living spaces.
24. Clear your mind of negativity.
25. Let go of relationships that don’t help you feel like a better person.
26. Let go of people who don’t believe in you.
27. Let go of judgments about others.
28. Let go of caring what others think about you.
29. Release the need to fix people.
30. Let go of old, unhelpful, limiting beliefs.
What else do you need to let go of? When you let go and open up the spaces in your mind, and your environment, you’ll shift and open the energy flow. You’ll create a space for what you desire to flow to you. The universe will notice your hands are open. You’ll set the stage for the miracle.
AUTHOR: LAURA DI FRANCO
IMAGE: GABRIEL BENOIS/UNSPLASH
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