Select Page

Letting Go and Holding On

by | Jul 7, 2022 | Bach Flower Remedies, Success | 0 comments

There is no one-size-fits-all recipe for success. But certain ingredients can increase your chances of achieving success in any endeavour. Clarity of purpose, a sound strategy, and deliberate action are essential. So too, is the ability to be agile and flexible in reshaping goals, as well as the patience to see things through. And of course, a bit of luck never hurts. If you have all of these things working in your favour, you can be sure that success will be well within reach. Bon Appétit!

In a previous blog post, we talked about how we take the time to think, and only then act deliberately and strategically to create Success. In this post, let’s take a look at some of the other ingredients.

The Art of Letting Go

In our book Sleep Your Way to Success, there is a cute cartoon that sets the stage for a chapter about knowing when to let go. It was drawn by my friend Gowrishankar (contactgowrinow@gmail.com if you want logos, illustrations or videos professionally made, I highly recommend him). Here it is.

It is insane how many times we stay and stay and suffer, when we can let go and move on. It’s the investment you see. We invest ourselves in a project, a relationship, a business, a job, a career – and there comes a point when somewhere we know this is not going to work. Yet, because we have been so involved, and put in so much time and effort, we simply bide time hoping things get better. They don’t. They get worse. Yet we wait.

The other day, a friend invited us for lunch at the Oberoi in Bangalore. We found a lovely little nook and started talking about all sorts of things. In a while, I went through the menu, and realised that they served only snacks. Not lunch. We could have stayed because it was truly a pleasant place to sit, but we had gone there for lunch. We got up and found the restaurant that did serve lunch. I am so glad we did because the food was excellent, even if the seating was not as pleasant as the coffee shop.

Keeping in mind your original goal is important. You go to see a movie to have a great time. If the movie sucks, get up and walk out. Don’t stay to the end hoping there will be something in the film that would make it worthwhile.

A business is supposed to make you money. If that’s not happening, then you need to be able to let go. Rethink. Restart. And when you do, remember that this time you are not starting from scratch, you are starting with experience!

Has a relationship gone sour? You have done all you can, yet you are both miserable. Would there be a point in being together then? Sometimes a few people need to leave your life to make space for the people who are truly important to make their appearance. Sometimes you may just need to walk away. Not angry. Not bitter. Just wiser.

Having that agility and flexibility to reshape life goals when needed is a great skill. And it required great courage.

Your practice of meditation will help you tremendously to maintain this within yourself. If you have not yet done an Art of Living course, this would be a great time to do one. If you have already learned to meditate, but you are not regularly practicing meditation, now would be a fantastic time to start.

The Bach Flower Remedies are a great resource for this as well. The Remedies are safe, non-toxic, non-habit forming and are used by millions around the world to let go of emotional rubbish. Taking these regularly can help free the mind from clutter and allow you to take better decisions.

Incidentally, I will be teaching an in-person Level 1 program certified by the Bach Centre, UK in Mumbai next week. I invite you to join this one, or any other program to learn more about the remedies and in doing so, learn a lot more about yourself. You can book a consultation with me as well, if you wish and through dialogue I can assist you in choosing the most appropriate remedy mix for you.

The Art of Waiting

“He who can master the art of waiting will never know the misery of disappointment.”

– Chinese Proverb

On one hand there is letting go – on the other hand it is holding on. Waiting. There are too many people out there who let go too easily, too fast. They give up on their dreams and goals and settle for mediocrity. They move from one relationship to another, never really forming those deep bonds that can be so precious.

Success seldom comes easy. There is always a period of waiting, of anticipation, of not knowing what tomorrow will bring. This is where patience comes in.

You could be working hard towards your goals, but things may not be happening as fast as you want them to. This is when you need to have faith in yourself and your capabilities. Remember, you are not doing this just for the results. The process, the journey, is important too. Enjoy it.

If you put 1 grain of rice in a bottle on day 1, then 2 on day 2, then 4 on day 3, 8 on day 4 and so on and I tell you that the bottle is half full on day 39, when will it be completely full?

The answer amazingly is, on day 40. It may have taken 39 days to become half full. But it takes just a day after that to get completely full.

The success you yearn for may be just around the corner. Wait it out.

Here too, the Bach Flower Remedies can help. There are remedies that bring in patience. Others that help you stay the path.

What to Do?!

I know this post is pretty contradictory. I start by saying there are times when you should let go, and then say you should wait and hold on. When to let go then, and when to wait?

The Wisdom that comes from experience is your best friend here. That’s why I say failure can be a fairly critical ingredient when you are cooking success. As is the ability to recover from that failure and learn from it.

Meditation, Yoga, Pranayama allows you mind space to objectively view failure and learn from it. These techniques hasten the onset of Wisdom. The Bach Flower Remedies augment it.

When you cook something for the first time, it may taste great, but you know you can adjust this spice, add in that ingredient, leave it in the oven for just a little more time, etc to make it just perfect. And maybe when you cook it again and again and yet again, you eventually manage to create that perfect meal.

The ooohs and aaahs around the table will stand testament to this.

Exactly like this, the delicate tightrope walk between letting go, and holding on eventually creates success.

And when it does, it is just the most amazing feeling ever. All the Best.

Bon Appétit!

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *