Letting Go and Moving Into a Bold & Beautiful Present

Welcome to day two of 2013! In my search for an amazing year, I am realizing the power of letting go. The process of letting go is not always easy...for it requires that we discover the hero within and take the steps necessary to move forward and create an inspiration-filled life regardless of how scary or daunting it may seem.

Last evening I met up with one of my newest friends named Bruno. He shared with me his philosophy on moving forward with life. In his beautiful Argentinian accent, he said something like this: "Everybody moves forward in their own way and at their own pace...but I think it important that we dare ourselves to face what is brewing inside and come to terms with it all. Don't distract yourself, but be strong enough to work through the things that hurt....and face your fears. Those who continually try to distract themselves never tend to progress the way they wish. They continually make the same mistakes."

For me, I've been through quite a bit in the last handful of months. I've cried bucket-loads of tears in an effort come to terms with the loss of a meaningful relationship - my Mom's health challenges  and her move from my childhood home - and the realities that come with change and adulthood.  Yet -- with the new year at hand, I am increasingly ready to forge forward and claim a beautiful future. Much of my readiness comes as result of my decision to be a hermit for a while and force myself to face all of the thoughts/feelings that have been raging  in my mind/body. If you've never tried being a hermit for a while...I strongly suggest giving it a try (especially if you are needing to process some things)...but then there comes a time in which there is very little more processing to do. And when that time comes, we can say "watch out world! I'm ready to make beautiful things happen!"

Author and lecturer Marianne Williamson often writes/speaks of the beauty of this very fact: There is only one you (me) on Planet Earth. There are no mistakes -- each and every one of us has something amazingly special to offer the world. It is when we dare to move beyond thoughts of limitation and lack that we can harness the power within to create something of supreme value.

On this second day of January, I am challenging myself...and anyone else who needs to move forward...to close the door to yesterday and dare to progress with passion and grace. I suggest moving forward with "grace" because moving forward in rage and/or anger doesn't tend to get us anywhere special. Moving into a new space with anger/rage only creates this thing called baggage -- which we all know leads to the ole' crash and burn.

There will always be quiet moments in which we will look back...but with courage we can process our feelings/the past with intention when needed and then breathe ourselves back into the present moment. Let's be gentle with ourselves and allow for the future to unravel naturally...with beauty.

"The human mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild," writes James Allen "If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall, accumulate, and will reproduce their own kind.  Just as a gardener cultivates the plot, keeping it free from weeds and cultivating flowers and fruits which are required, so may we tend the garden of the mind, weeding out all the wrong and useless thoughts and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts. By pursuing this process, we sooner or later discover that we are the master-gardener of our souls, the director of our lives."

May we all cultivate strong minds - focused on the present moment - and thereby build a fulfilling 2013...and beyond...

- Jen Engevik

by Jen Engevik