Let Go and Grow

Written By: Mary Abranyi - Cashiers Valley Fusion | Issue: 2019/03 - March

Empowerment is defined as the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one’s life and claiming one’s rights.  As we come into this world, we each arrive with a story that’s already in play.  The story builds from there with the situation of our upbringing dictating the early chapters of our lives but also impacting the future story as we grow into adults. 

This story is light and cheery for some but for others it can be quite the opposite. Symptoms such as anxiety, depression, guilt, self-doubt, fear, lack of trust., addiction, over indulgences and more.  Obviously, there is not a one-size-fits-all remedy to any of these symptoms, however, the path to empowerment can begin by taking small steps that eventually lead to larger strides and quite possibly into leaps and bounds. 

One step toward empowerment can be in the process of letting go. Perhaps it’s a physical or emotional wound, a chaotic environment, or something only known to you. There’s always something we can purge or de-clutter.  Treat the process like an onion to which you begin peeling back one layer at a time, beginning with the outermost layers and moving inward from there.  

Examine the health of your home and workspace.  Is it uplifting and organized?  Does it make you feel good when you enter?  If not, what can you shed from the space that is no longer of use or value?  Give the items you keep an organized place to live.

Then there are the really big projects like personal or professional relationships. Perhaps it’s time to purge someone and de-clutter your energy field. Maybe it’s someone that makes you feel insignificant or bad about yourself.  It could be someone that continuously leans into doom and gloom.  Let them go, or at the very least come up with a plan to limit your time around them.

Another form of letting go is tuning out the external chatter.  When is the last time you turned everything off and stepped away from the constant call of the device, the distractions of social media, the chaos of news media, the bombardment of advertisements, and the ever-increasing information overload?  Make time each day or each week to disconnect so you can reconnect with yourself.  Peeling another layer back and feeling the positive effects you’re creating.

Finally, turn inward to the internal chatter of negative self-talk, self-doubt, self-judgment and overall limiting thoughts and let them go.  They do not serve you. Let go of bad habits.  Forgive yourself.  Forgive someone else. Create a safe place to heal and grow, living more fully in the present moment and allowing the past to be a narrative that does not define you but instead lifts you up. 

Let go and empower yourself!