Living with Peace and Less Resistance

Here we are: in the final week of this 8-week let go and surrender series.

It has been so amazing (for me and I hope for you too). I have felt the effects of noticing when I’m trying to control, when I’m feeling attached. And, I have reminded myself to let go, to surrender, to let things happen as they happen without attachment.

I do feel more at peace and less stressed. I feel more abundant. What about you?

Easy as 123

As I was getting ready for this post, I was delighted to see the number is 123. It makes me think of the phrase “as easy as 123.”

This process isn’t necessarily easy though – not for the mind, the ego. The mind wants to control. The mind wants to know how.

But, surrender can be as easy as 123 as you remind yourself to let go and settle in. Another way of thinking about this is releasing resistance.

So this week’s post is a reminder that this is an ongoing practice.

Maybe you can read it once and apply it and incorporate it into your psyche for the rest of your life, but more likely, as each new situation and life change comes up, you’ll get the opportunity to relearn and reapply this information in a new way.

In addition to committing to an ongoing practice, I hope you also decide to incorporate these 2 ideas: being a conduit and celebrating with gratitude.

Ongoing Practice

Here’s your first reminder or instruction about how to incorporate these ideas for yourself for the rest of your life: continue to practice, practice, practice.

Maybe you can even set a calendar reminder to re-visit to this series at the start of each new year.

You can also periodically revisit the steps to letting go (remember? Easy as 1-2-3).

Clean and clear.
Say no and yes.
Give and receive.

Every time your eyes rest on something in your space that takes up your space (and your peace), just let it go. Throw it or give it away. Donate it, maybe even destroy it (if that’s appropriate).

Every time your mind rests on something that takes up space (and your peace), let that go too. Say no to worry and complaining. Open your mind space to say yes to opportunities, and possibilities.

Be quick to give, give, give and also, equally to receive, receive, receive! Especially if you have closed yourself off in the past and not allowed yourself to receive out of any old stories of “putting people out, or not being worthy, or undeserving.”

Remember to Release the “My”

So much peace can come with that little grammatical change. Instead of “worrying” about my house or my career, I can just think of it as a house, a career. That little 2 letter change releases so much attachment and creates so much space.

Go with the Flow

Think of yourself as a conduit, or a pipeline, for love and abundance to flow through.

Let things flow – let things come to you and let things go.

Notice if you ever try to force or control or resist anything and check in to see why you think you need or want to force or control?

Why do you think you need to block, if you are resisting?

Why not just let things flow naturally, at their pace?

Why not just believe if something flows away from you, something else can flow in.

What to Give

Give what you want more of. If you want love, give love.

If you want a successful career, help someone else’s career flourish.

If you want to be appreciated, give appreciation.

Notice any scarcity thoughts that might come up when you think about giving so freely and generously.

Are you thinking “I can’t give love if I don’t know it will be accepted or reciprocated?” Good catch! And actually, you can give freely without expectation!

If your mind suggests “there’s no correlation between me helping someone else in their career and my career improving.” Check that – is that even true? Could the opposite actually be true? Could there be a correlation?

What examples have you noticed of letting love, creativity, abundance, and whatever else, flow through you without restricting them with scarcity or expectations?

Celebration + Gratitude

This is the 8th and final week of this series so, we can think of it like a culmination or graduation – it is definitely a cause for celebration!

How do you like to celebrate? Do you make an announcement? Throw a party? Commemorate what you are celebrating?

I looked up celebration in an online dictionary and I really liked the answer, so I’m just going to quote directly because it’s so good and so applicable:

“Celebration is an ancient ritual. It gives us a way to feel good about ourselves, and our accomplishments. When we celebrate we are reinforcing something important to us. Without it we simply maintain the status quo and candidly have a lot less fun.”

(that was written by Tim Hatcher, an associate professor with North Carolina State University. Here’s the link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/hrdq.20001# )

Your Personal Celebration and Commencement

I hope you feel good about reading to all 8 parts of this series. I hope you feel a sense of accomplishment if you’ve been considering the ideas and trying them out for yourself and maybe even journaling about what you’re learning.

Today, I want to encourage you to reinforce this topic if it is important to you.

Don’t just maintain the status quo. Don’t just think “that was nice” then let it fade into distant memory as you go about your life.

When I think about common big deal celebrations, one example is a graduation. Isn’t is interesting that graduation ceremonies are called commencements – commencement literally means “let’s begin!”

Easy-Peacy

When I first created the Surrender Study Guide back in 2021, which was one of the early seeds of inspiration for the Let Go and Surrender Journal and podcast series, session 8 was called “Living with Peace and Less Resistance.” So, this work culminates in or commences the promise of peace.

And combining the idea of peace with the “Easy as 123” phrase I mentioned earlier, we get the fake, but fun, expression: Eacy-Peacy!

What if that becomes a new mantra for you? A new phrase of celebration?

Saying Eacy-peacy (sounds like a funny accent) and reminds you to let things be easy and let yourself feel peace.

Give Yourself Credit

Another part of celebration is giving yourself well deserved credit.

I see so much evidence all the time that we don’t give ourselves enough credit. It makes me so sad!

If you’re worried about going too far and becoming too full of yourself, don’t worry!

#1 because we decided to say No to worry, but also remember that you can handle the situation “of going too far” if it comes. Don’t let the “possibility” of being too full of yourself in the future hold you back from giving yourself credit, here, now, in the present.
How can you celebrate yourself right now? Just the fact that you’re reading this and considering it instead of dismissing it is something to give yourself credit for and be grateful for.

Regular Gratitude Practice

Let’s talk about being grateful. The fact that you can read and consider instead of dismissing is also something to be grateful for.

Gratitude is linked to better health, more sound sleep, less anxiety and depression.

It is easier to be kind to others and have higher long term satisfaction with life when you regularly practice gratitude.

I highly recommend a daily practice but you do gratitude as regularly and frequently as makes sense for you.

My Gratitude Practices

Here’s my gratitude practice: Every morning, towards the end of my journaling session I write down 3 things I’m so thankful for. These are relatively new and unique things to the last 24 hours or so. They can be major or seemingly insignificant.

Some examples of recent things I’ve written down that I’m so thankful for are:

The number of people who rsvpd to a workshop I was hosting
All the technology available to me (my computer, the software programs I love to use to create workshops and podcasts, the way I can connect with people I have never met because of technology)
The lovely discussion we had at book club this week

I also do a bigger monthly gratitude practice called thankful 30th. On the 30th of each month, I make a list of 30 things I’m thankful for.

Again, I try to keep these new and unique so I’m just not listing the same 30 things each month – although this list does tend to have more repetition from month to month because I do want to remind myself of how thankful I am for these constant things in my life.

This month, you can join me on Tuesday the 28th for Thankful 28th. Maybe I’ll even post it on my facebook feed so if we’re connected, it can remind you. It’s already scheduled to be the prompt for the 28th in the Journaling and Friendship Facebook group.

Celebrate What Comes as You Let Go

I really believe as you let go of holding on to things and trying to control them and worrying about them, once your mind acclimates to the new environment, you will notice more space to think of new ideas and realize things you never thought of before.

I’m so excited for what’s about to come for you! New inspirations, new connections, new motivations, new satisfactions.

Verse to Practice Surrender

Here’s the final verse to repeat to yourself to practice surrender.

Let me remember I am limitless.

I am a conduit for abundance.

I transcend the boundaries of the physical world.

Let life show me its divine mysteries.

Let me feel whole.

Let me surrender.

Chakra and Maslowe’s Hierarchy

Now that we are in the last week of this series, we’re also talking about the crown chakra and the very top of Maslowe’s hierarchy.

The Crown chakra connects you to everything. This is enlightenment. If you feel connected to something beyond yourself, you are heading in the right direction. If your trust in your inner wisdom creates confidence (that is not ego-driven), keep going in that direction.

The very top of Maslowe’s hierarchy is called self-actualization. It is your full potential. You can clearly see reality and are accepting of it, not wishing things are not as they actually are. You are able to fully let go because you can fully trust.

Journal Prompts

How can I let go of what needs to go?

How can I openly receive whatever comes?

How do I know everything is always fine?

Final Thoughts and Links

That’s it. We’ve reached the end of this series (start at the 1st ep of this series at https://bexb.org/letgo/ )

Thank you so much for joining me. I got so much out of creating it for you and I hope you also got so much out of participating.

Let me know your thoughts and reactions.

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60 days of Self Awareness

We can also be connected daily for the next 60 days – mentally, not actually meeting or seeing or hearing each other.

Starting on Wednesday, March 1st, 2023, I’m kicking off 60 Days of Self Awareness.

Back in November I decided to go back to the basics and do a self awareness exercise every day – I loved it!

It got me much more in tune with what I think and feel and do.

I started training my brain to naturally open my mind to think of other possible thoughts.

You can do this with me every day in March and April and see what benefits it produces for you.

You can see a short video of me explaining it and get all the details at bexb.org/17days