“Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for and attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities.”

If there’s one thing we all have in common, it’s that we want to feel happy; and on the other side of that coin, we want to avoid pain. Yet, we consistently put ourselves in situations that set us up for pain. We do so by pinning our happiness to people, circumstances and things and then, holding onto them for dear life. We stress about the possibility of losing them when something seems "wrong". Then we melt into grief when something changes-we "lose" something that we "thought" belonged to us and that we should have forever.

As much as you can attach to people, places and things, you can also become attach to feelings and thoughts as if they define you, and ironically, not just to positive ones. And, if you’ve wallowed in regret, self pity or disappointment for years, you can even become attached to those feelings-you can actually begin to feel safe and comfortable in your sadness and suffering.

However, your attempts to hold on to what’s familiar, are limiting your ability to experience joy in the present. Today, allow yourself to let go! Stop trying to grasp, own, and control the world around you. Instead, consciously experience, appreciate, enjoy, and let go to welcome another experience. Know that you have the power to choose from moment to moment how you experience things you enjoy: with a sense of ownership, anxiety, and fear, or with a sense of freedom, peace, and love. Today choose to let go and set yourself free.

Just for today, I am willing to let go. I let go of all fear and doubt and Life becomes simple and easy for me. I let go of all the people, places, things and beliefs that no longer serve me to make room for the new to enter my life. I am safe and all is truly well in my world. And so it is.