6 White Hot Truths About Active Letting Go

letting go, pro-actively (because passively waiting is passive-aggressive)

“Active letting go” is not to be confused with “passive letting go,” whereby life rips stuff out of your grip, or you back yourself into a corner, or your responsibilities get so burdensome that you have to offload them just to stay afloat. Active letting go is a little more – pro-active. It’s a practice. It’s awake. It’s somewhat exhilarating (except for the agony of it.)

  1. Steel leads to softness.
    Imagine ripping off a bandage; dropping an heirloom off at the thrift store and resolving to not go back to get it; kissing him or her that way for the last time and tearing yourself away because you need to grow in the other direction; boarding the plane with a heavy heart. When you steel the nerve to be tough enough to let go, you stride across a sacred line. And on the other side, Tenderness is waiting, and She’s very proud of you.
  2. There’s always more to let go of.
    Active letting go is limitless. Just surrender to the endlessness of it.
  3. It’s always painful.
    From wince to damn near crippling, letting go is gonna hurt. Face it. Rock it. Revel in the beauty.
  4. You can let go in pieces…
    …and even take baby steps, but you can’t avoid the pain that surfaces when you fully commit to letting go.
  5. Acceptance is your balm.
    When you accept that the pain of letting go is part of the deal, your let-go wound will heal faster.
  6. The odds are in your favor.
    Out of, say, 100+ people I’ve talked to about letting go of stuff – material and emotional – 88 percent of them wished they’d done it sooner, and 97 percent of them have no regrets whatsoever. Only 3 percent are still uncertain. When you let go, the odds are stacked in your favor.

Editor’s Note: Danielle LaPorte is the creator of WhiteHotTruth.com, which has been called “the best place on-line for kick-ass spirituality.” She is the author of The Fire Starter Sessions: A Digital Experience for Entrepreneurs, an inspirational speaker, former think tank exec, and news show commentator. You can read all of Danielle’s EcoSalon guest articles here, and find her on Twitter @daniellelaporte.

Image: moriza

Danielle LaPorte