Are you going to relive every day over and over…or every week…or all of 2020? Mindset is Key! We know for things to be different, clearly, we will need to be different. Perhaps saying goodbye to COVID is part of our repertoire, but we have no control over that health issue. More important than trying to control things we can’t, let’s work on overcoming any kind of emotional upset that you created for yourself or others due to the pandemic. Yes, I said you created. Why? How you respond is truly your choice. You can choose to “go victim” to the pandemic but that is choosing a lose lose. It does give people a reason why their life is not working out, or being put on hold. I know hundreds of people who had incredible years in 2020…they chose to shift and change to take advantage of the new circumstances. The stock market sky-rocketed as well, so that reflects others not seeing the world in a negative downturn, but rather no matter what happens, to look for the opportunity it is presenting. So, what is it about being capable of truly living your best life instead of allowing circumstances control your responses?
Recognizing you are at Choice is your first step into reality and thus, ability to recover. And regarding choice, let’s first realize that in order to make clear choices that set us on an incredible track for our future, there are plenty of things we need to “let go.” This is like a dumping exercise, but perhaps a dumping that you have not ever cognitively experienced. I am not suggesting showing no empathy for those who lost their jobs, lost loved ones, suffered financially, emotionally from separation or isolation anxiety, etc. Yes, much pain and agony has been suffered. What is true about our hardships is that after perhaps some mourning, we have choices to make. Honoring our loved ones is incredibly important. My favorite mechanism is to work extremely hard to provide an incredible donation in their name to a charity of their liking. Surely, any friend or family member would rejoice to see you excel.
In order to excel again we will need to “let go.” Let me share a parable with you about letting go as it was impactful for me when I first heard it. Over in south east Asia, say Thailand, there are villages that from time to time get overrun by the monkeys especially during a drought when the food is running low. The villagers soon came up with a way to capture the monkeys: since they knew the monkeys loved peanuts, they would cut a hole in the coconuts, draining all the milk, the hole being just the size to allow the monkey’s hand to fit. Then they filled the emptied coconut with peanuts which we all know monkeys love, and placed these coconuts near the trees that the monkeys frequented on the edge of their villages
Watching from a short distance, the villagers would await the monkeys who once discovering the peanuts in the coconut, would fill their hands. At that moment the villagers would chase the monkeys who became stressed, fearful and panicked. The monkey now only had one useful hand as the other was hanging on to the peanuts, thus causing the monkey to be awkwardly burdened by the heavy coconut. This allowed the villagers to catch them and kill them to end the disruption they had on the local villages. Grewsome result, but the moral of the story is “to let go.”
What “peanuts” are you carrying which are truly restraining you from reaching your dreams, building a greater future, or even for some, just merely advancing in life with joy?
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If you need more paper, find some and continue your process of questioning your subconscious…therein lie the answers. Just ask over and over: “What is it that I am hanging onto that is not serving me to be my best?” Then, as the answers come forth start recording them (“those peanuts”). Thereafter, journal on your commitment to release them.
Healthy, happy and fulfilled living clearly requires us to LET GO. Discover and recover from your “peanuts.”