Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Let It Go


"We must be willing to let go of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." –Joseph Campbell

A single act that occurs to you can set the tone for your entire day, if you choose to let it. Those seemingly small 'slights' that are thrust upon you by another person. An example would be getting cut off in traffic.

This happened to me recently at a two lane right-turn when a person in the righthand turn lane decided to get into a hurry. They moved over into my lane as I was turning and nearly hit me. Now out of all the articles I've written, life happens and you should just let it go. But of course I couldn't for the first five or so minutes.

How could this person do this, 'what a jerk' and all the other thoughts you develop in these situations. Physically I could tell that it was upsetting me, I identified it and began a series of thought processes to bring me up from that low point.

You first identify that is has upset and is effecting you. Secondly, ask yourself why you are reacting in this manner. What is the reason that action upset you in the first place. Then begin to think about how you are going to let it effect you the rest of the day. If you decide to hold onto it and let it fester, the rest of the day is going to be miserable.

Let it go, chalk it up to simple human interaction. There was no real harm, so no real foul and you both move on. The problem is if you don't, it will impact how you deal with others during the day and can have disasterous results. Letting it go will free you to move on and have a productive day.

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