Let go and live!

Something that I’ve been really reflecting on recently is this idea of just letting things go and focusing on living more than anything. I think it’s very easy to get carried away by very specific goals or very specific outcomes or things that we want to happen. And usually, that sometimes comes from frustration… frustration with the way things currently are, where we want change so desperately but we don’t really know what to do.

We decide that we want to go after new goals, set new rules, set new boundaries, and then we go after them with such full force and intensity that we lose track of why we even started in the first place. When you chase things, it will be gone like the wind.

That’s the thing with chasing. It’s not that it’s wrong to pursue things, but when you’re pursuing them from the perspective of I hate so much where I currently am, so much so that I’ll do anything to escape it, then you come into this space of “working on yourself,” removing your beliefs, doing whatever it is… all from this urge to escape.

Wanting so badly to escape something — not being at peace with it — is very different from being at peace with what currently is, while knowing that what you’ve already intended is legitimate, solid, already in motion.

There’s a form of escapism where you are constantly not in a state of peace, always wanting to run away from what currently is, instead of looking at it with the knowing that it’s just not relevant.

There’s one that is avoidance, and one that comes from power.

Being at peace — genuinely — no matter what circumstances look like, whether good or not so good circumstances, is something I’ve been thinking about a lot. Everything is always in a state of flux. You’re never really at one single point in time where everything is “settled.” Maybe you’re settled for a moment, and the next moment you want to expand again.

That can lead us into always wanting to chase. There’s always something that has to be fixed, something that has to be changed, something that has to be sorted out. And that prevents you from being easygoing and just trusting that everything is coming together for you.

I compare this to having a Type A and Type B outlook. Not that personalities are fixed, but let’s say I have more Type A tendencies. I like to plan. I like to structure things. I like to see the path clearly — something I can map out, like a task from start to execution. I enjoy that process; it’s fun.

But this Type A stringent planning — being hard-set on the way things have to be, being hyper-focused on details that don’t even need your intervention — blocks you. Because if you’re always stuck in that realm of needing so badly to control things, and feeling as though it must be a certain way for you to be at ease, then something’s off.

What I’ve realised is this that the only way to really be at peace is to understand that life will always be a constant expansion of whatever things currently are. Whatever you wanted previously — the moment you receive it in your physical experience — it’s a fleeting feeling. Because not long after, it’s natural that you’ll want something else, a better version of what you currently have.

And that’s why people who never feel peace and ease are always chasing the next best thing. We’ve been taught to chase the next best thing. We’ve been taught that the next best thing will give us satisfaction. But the next best thing is always something outside.

The problem is: there is no “next best thing,” because where are you looking? And it becomes an issue when your destination is always a thing, but never yourself.

Then you see the Type-B folks — the ones who are in this interesting mental space. They’re easygoing, and many people wonder: why is it that they can be so easygoing when it seems like everything might be going to shit? Why is it that they just move with the flow?

I feel that there is a time and place to be Type-A, and a time and place to be Type-B. Many people come into this thinking they’re supposed to be Type-B forever. But I would say the overall trajectory of your life — the attitude and the lightness you bring to life — has to lean Type-B, no matter what. Because the whole point is not about being at peace only when you have what you want. It’s about being at peace regardless, because the moment you receive what you want, I can tell you: it fades away. It fades away like the wind.

Not because it won’t last, but because humans are very short-sighted. We’re short-sighted in our vision. We tend to chase after things that don’t last. We want to grab many things. That’s why you see so many people in this space always focused on getting stuff — accumulating things as if that is the end goal, the trophy, the source of security.

The point of even doing any self-work is about reaching a state of satisfaction and ease. Where you know that to be at ease is to win. Because when you’re at ease, everything just flows.

When you have a desire or when you think something could be better, you shouldn’t see it from the perspective of I want to escape what currently is. It’s not that. It’s simply recognising that whenever you have the intention or a clear picture of something better, you already know — in that instant — that it’s done. You know inherently that you always have the better version of whatever you’re looking for already in the pipeline. It’s just there. And there’s nothing for you to do to get it.

Something I’ve realised is that it’s not about doing things to get. Because there is nothing to get. We’re in this strange illusion where we believe we need to get things — that once we get the thing, that will be the answer. But the answer is understanding that peace cannot come from things outside of you.

For me, I find that peace in having a well-rounded spiritual practice. Not just doing something to get something. That’s only half the puzzle. Peace also comes from knowing there is more to life than getting things. More to life than career. More to life than money. More to life than a house. More to life than people or friends. Those things are not wrong — they’re part of life, part of our creative expression, part of why we’re here. But at the same time, for me, peace also comes from knowing what God is and who God is. And that deeper inquiry keeps things grounded. It gives you a different perspective — not so much about chasing strange goals that ultimately don’t matter in the grander scheme.

This is just something that I’ve been reflecting on. I think for me, because I do so much of that inner talking and inner work, sometimes the growth just happens much faster — or my perspectives shift much faster. And I’ve noticed that the things in my life that tend to stick with me are the things I do out of joy and excitement.

The things that don’t stick are the things I know I’ve done for the sake of proving a point or trying to prove myself. Because at the end of the day, I’m still learning and I’m still growing as well. There’s really nothing — and no reason — to believe you need to prove yourself. You don’t have to justify yourself to other people. You don’t have to worry about whether someone will accept what you say.

Ultimately, it’s about: what do you want to say? What aligns with that sense of peace and ease? What allows you to express that peace and ease in the most natural and holistic way?

It’s not about trying so hard to prove yourself to other people so you can get that confirmation or security. Because there’s no security in anything or anyone else unless you believe that to be true. And when you try to seek security in things outside of you, it will be taken away as quickly as it comes in.