The Gift of Release

Day 3 - The Gift of Release

Yesterday we became aware of the negative perspective we have of ourself and our life, how/why they exist and how it has robbed us of our innocent mind, clear heart and strong body. Today is about releasing that, letting it go and shifting our perception of ourselves, our lives and how this new way of seeing things will serve and support us.

Today is the day to clear that poison, to get rid of those self defeating thoughts, anxieties, insecurities and judgements that we came to believe were true. Every single time we said or thought any of these things about ourselves, put another step of pain in front of us. These damaging pollutants have changed who we are. They have taken our energy, dimmed our lights internally and externally. Today is the day to let them go, put them in your past.  How you ask? Well, lets start here and now....

This is a physical process, so you will need a pen and paper to take the action itself.  Ready? Ok, write down the details of everything you discovered yesterday, those things you wanted to release. Write down everything you believe is in your way, blocking you. Write down those negative self thoughts, those defeating thoughts, anything that is/will and would be getting in your way from this day forward.  When you are done, rip this page/the pages up into small pieces. Then, before you either burn them, throw them away, dump them down the toilet etc., either write this saying down, or memorize it so you can repeat them as you are getting rid of the ripped pieces of paper.

" I give this to you God (or whomever you choose) to transform into the nectar of my soul. I let go of all that has taken up space in my mind, body and psyche. I give to you all the pain that I have been unable to let go. Today I ask that you turn what formerly has been toxic into fuel for my future."

In addition to this, please think of what you want to release today and one action you can take in your outer world that will bring you closer to your goal.  For your inner self, think of one thing that you can think that will bring you closer to your goal.

While I am doing this on paper myself, what I will say is that I am going to have the "release quote" as part of my daily meditation for the next while. I have a lot of letting go to do.. (as we all do), but in my bones, before I even start, I know this is something I can connect to.  I think doing the exercise itself is part of the external step, so internally I have created a visualization that makes sense to me. Now don't laugh too hard, but I have used this previously and it worked, so I am going to use it again. I think of a gingerbread man - easy for me to visualize.  But I think of it as more of fillable mold, glass, see through.  As the gingerbread man he is all full of brown molasses, thick, smelly, slow "stuff', that will slow you down and fill you up with nothing good.  Then I visualize letting go, as dumping the liquid out.  That "empty space" is room for the goodness that I am going to do for myself.  The extra room I have to fill up with good stuff that serves me.  My goal is to "empty" my gingerbread man until just the shell and frame remain, then I can either visualize filling it up with good stuff... not quite sure, but you get the idea. 

So.. moving on...

Sun Tzu - Indomitable Spirit - Beginning by Winning

We learned yesterday about a winning attitude, defined by our own terms.  Today, we learn that Sun Tzu believes that the victory is to be achieved, before the battle is even started.  This is the embodiment of an unconquerable spirit.

"The wise commander always ensures that his forces are put in an invincible position and at the same time will be sure to miss no opportunity to defeat the enemy.  It follows that a triumphant army will not fight with the enemy until the victory is assured, while an army destined to defeat will always fight with the opponent first, in the hope that they may win by sheer luck."

This illustrates the concept of beginning by winning. Things/issues etc., happen to all of us. But what happens to us, doesn't dictate how we respond. That is up to us. What we think will create what will happen. If we think there is an opportunity to lose and spend our time and energy on it, we will make it happen. We essentially give ourselves permission to fail, simply by thinking about it.  If we change our focus to only the attitude of winning, within our own definition, we will succeed before we take our first step.  We have taken losing out of the equation.

Hmm...how will you do things differently from what you have learned today?