The Hardest Lesson of Life: The Art of Letting Go

The Hardest Lesson of Life: The Art of Letting Go

​One of the hardest, yet most essential lessons to learn in life is 'Letting Go'.

The above statements articulate this very clearly.

​We all carry the burdens of emotions such as guilt, deep-seated anger, unfulfilled love, the loss of someone, or unbearable betrayal.

The daily struggle is often between holding onto this baggage and fighting to release it.

​What exactly is "Letting Go"?

As most people imagine, it is neither running away from our responsibilities nor abandoning all worldly pleasures to become an ascetic.

True "Letting Go" is the act of releasing the excessive Attachment and Expectation we hold onto regarding past or current events in our lives, other people, and our own stubborn insistence.

​This attitude of 'Letting Go' creates profound and positive impacts on our daily lives.

​When we cling to the anger and hatred directed at someone who has hurt us, we remain prisoners of that resentment.

That anger steals our peace of mind.

By letting go of past sorrows and pains, we break those shackles and gain emotional freedom.

This release helps us to live peacefully in the present.

​Worries about the future or guilt about the past are the primary causes of stress.

Stress increases when we hold onto things we cannot control.

'Letting Go' offers the maturity to distinguish between what can be controlled and what cannot, and to allow the uncontrollable things to take their natural course.

This reduces unnecessary mental burden.

​Most problems in relationships arise because we expect others to act according to our expectations and cling to that belief.

By forgiving others' mistakes and accepting them as they are (i.e., through 'Letting Go'), we cultivate healthy space and genuine love in our relationships.

​We must understand emphatically that 'Letting Go' is not about renouncing everything and becoming a recluse.

Instead, it is about experiencing life's rightful and moral pleasures with a 'non-attached' attitude.

This is the highest state of release.

​Life is nature's gift.

It is human nature to enjoy pleasures such as good food, the love of relationships, the joy of success, and the appreciation of art.

We do not need to reject them.

However, what we must do is loosen our grip on those pleasures.

​You might ask, what does it mean to experience things with a non-attached attitude?

​Let's consider someone seeing a beautiful flower.

​Attached Approach is "This flower must always be mine.

It must never wilt. I will not give it to anyone."

When you cling like this, sorrow arises when the flower wilts.

​Non-Attached Approach is "This flower is so beautiful! I enjoy it now.

I will not be saddened when it wilts, because that is its nature.

I know this pleasure is temporary.

This approach helps to fully enjoy the pleasure and peacefully release it when it passes.

​We must adopt this attitude in our daily lives.

​We must work hard and accumulate wealth.

However, we should not think that the wealth is permanent or that it alone defines our worth.

Should it be lost, we must let go of that loss, thinking, "It came from my labour, and if it's gone, I can work again."

​We must shower love on our family and friends.

We must help them as much as we can.

However, we must allow them to be themselves (Letting Go), without expecting them to comply with our likes and dislikes.

​"Letting Go" is not a sign of weakness,it is a sign of true strength.

It is the expression of a matured mind.

Our happiness, peace, and freedom lie in whether we carry the burden of our rigid beliefs or peacefully let them go.

Therefore, let us fully enjoy all the pleasures that come our way in life.

​But let us not hold tightly to anything.

let us live with non-attachment, according to the flow of time.

This is the greatest art that life teaches.

​Until we meet again,
With Love,
Sakthi Sakthithasan