Packing and letting go
As I was packing for my upcoming adventure, I was reminded of the process of letting go.
I would be traveling for a few weeks and wanted to keep my stuff to a minimum.
It wasn’t an easy task to accomplish.
“You should take this, you might need this, what if this happens, what if you want to wear this, what if you need this, etc., etc..”
I had to manage the thoughts going through my mind that were trying to prevent me from experiencing any discomfort on my trip.
While these thoughts were trying to keep me safe and comfortable, they were not supporting me in my goal of keeping my stuff to a minimum.
I had to stay laser focused and manage the fear-based thoughts that were coming up.
It wasn’t easy.
An unsettling feeling would arise when I had one of these thoughts and my mind would immediately want to grasp and hold on to something (ANYTHING!) to feel safe and secure.
In this case, it was more stuff, but this same tendency of mind shows up in almost every area of my life.
There is usually no real danger, but the imagined sense of danger in my mind appears very real.
Can you relate?
I’ve found a few techniques that seem to support me in the process of letting go and managing these fear-based thoughts.
- Shift focus to desired outcome. Shifting my focus from the fear-based thought to what I really want is usually my first approach to working with these thoughts. This approach seems to help a lot in getting these thoughts to quiet down.
- Ignore the fear-based thoughts. This is usually my second approach. Often if I don’t entertain the fear-based thoughts, they go away on their own.
- Is it true? If ignoring them doesn’t work, my next approach is to acknowledge them and look to see if there is any truth in the thought. Is there anything that is true about this thought? If so, what value can I take from that truth. Basically, this approach helps me to differentiate between what’s true and what’s not.
- Become comfortable with the discomfort. No, I don't like this technique either, but it has become a necessary strategy for me to adopt. Letting go is usually not easy or comfortable, but the alternative of living a life unfulfilled and unsatisfied is even more terrifying to me.
How about you? How do you manage your own fear-based voices so that they don’t keep you from moving forward in the way you want? Could you benefit from implementing any of the strategies I mentioned above?
As always, feel free to reach out to me if I can assist you in managing these fear-based voices. They are often hard to recognize on our own. It can be helpful to have support in managing these voices so that they don’t limit you from accomplishing your goals.
Click here to schedule a complimentary 45-minute Empowerment Session with me.
In Ultimate Support of You!
Katharine
P.S. I managed to keep my stuff to just one suitcase. I was pretty pleased with this accomplishment:).