MAYA ROSE FERNANDES
A friend told me recently that I need to get better at ‘letting go and letting God.’
If you haven’t heard this expression before, it alludes to the spiritual belief of learning not to control things and just surrendering to the belief that a higher power; a divine intelligence, is at work and all we need to do is trust the process and know that we will be caught by a safety net if we happen to stroll over a cliff’s edge.
For those of you who are absolutely petrified by this image, welcome to the club! Like many of you, I was raised in an environment where everything had to be planned and we lived for the future.
Our household was beset with constant worry, goal-setting and ambitions. I was a high-functioning, people-pleaser raised to conform to rules, regulations and societal norms that suited everyone, except me.
I’m currently in the process of detangling myself from the tentacles of societal and family expectations, trying to figure out what’s mine and leaving behind the rest.
In fact, I’ve been working so hard at doing this that all that pushing to get to somewhere else has kept me stuck in expectation, somehow. Hence the friendly, letting-go comment.
Letting go of unnecessary possessions can be liberating, creating space for new opportunities.
Beyond the spiritual realm, part of my surrendering process has involved delving deep into the material realm, too. I’ve been doing a major de-cluttering of the spaces in my home.
Corners and cupboards full of castaway items, rejects, broken things and trash that might be someone else’s treasure.
I’ll admit that it might be linked to the need to feel something has been achieved at the end of the year – this de-cluttering of energetic space in order to make space for new people, new places, new energies and emotions or just new things.
Letting go of unnecessary possessions can be liberating, creating space for new opportunities.
I’m also doing a digital decluttering – getting rid of notifications, deleting old files from my laptop and unsubscribing from things that unnecessarily burden my inbox.
If this isn’t a regular practice at the end of the year for you, then I suggest you follow at least this next one: I’ve been taking stock of what went well and what didn’t for me, in 2023.
It’s been a year of opportunities I chose not to take and friendships I’ve ended because one or both of us outgrew the other somehow.
The art of letting go isn’t new to me, but it never gets easier or less painful. However, taking stock allows me to acknowledge the small wins that were actually quite big ones, helps me recognise the silver linings in even the darkest clouds.
It invites me to engage more fully with my own life, by savouring the richness of each experience, even if the moments of pleasure brought pain as well.
It’s a way of revelling, with gratitude, in the richness of my life, without feeling bogged down by the weight of the past.
It allows me to navigate the uncertainties of the future more deftly, as I recognise the unexpected wins and miraculous things that took me by surprise this year.
As the clock ticks towards the New Year tonight, let us embark on this journey of decluttering and reflection with open hearts.
May we all learn to surrender gracefully to the present, embracing it as a gift, and may the lessons and joys of 2023 pave the way for a fantastic New Year ahead, filled with hope, growth and miracles.