Letting Go: Courage to Embrace the Unknown
On the day of the Solar Eclipse, I received this notification:
“Software update available: to install, you’ll need to free up more storage space.”
Boy did I need to hear that…
Embedded in that logistical pop-up was a stirring truth about this supercharged window – that new beginnings beckon just beyond our agreement to an ending.
Many folks liken eclipses to energy portals. That is to say, sudden openings to new timelines, opportunities, environments, and so forth. These new beginnings reveal themselves naturally, but like a Trojan Horse, they’re often disguised as endings.
Typically, the most drastic endings appear when a limit has been reached. Perhaps an upgrade in some area of your life has been long overdue; if so, an eclipse can turn up the volume. And just like that storage notification, it makes it impossible to ignore that forward movement is going to require us to let go of whatever we’ve been white-knuckling for too long.
These events can throw our lives out of whack and/or make our bodies “feel off”, especially when they're highlighting an area of life that is MAXED out.
But when the dust settles, I always find these nudges really helpful - like an act of divine, meat-grinding grace. If you’re anything like me and have a tendency toward rigidity, sometimes being confronted by an even more immovable force than your own will is exactly what’s needed to make changes for the better.
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If you find yourself up against an indomitable force, I’d like to offer a simple 3-step framework for navigating the tumult. I picked it up from a Tantric Numerology teacher at a Kundalini Yoga ashram in Portugal. It goes like this:
Recognize – what’s asking for my attention? Am I aware of my blindspots?
Accept – what resistances do I need to release so I can be in the present moment with what is?
Agree – what do I need to do to change my attitude so I can fully embrace my situation and unlock the multitude of unconsidered possibilities and timelines before me?
For me, these three “simple” steps don’t always feel so simple. To fully let go and leap into the upgrade takes patience, support from others, tangling with my mind in meditation, and a whole lotta grace from Spirit. And the contraction is always most intense before the biggest expansions.
But casting forth the intention to let go of the heaviness and open to something new is all that ever seems to be needed. For all the Universe ever wants is for us to be ourselves and it always conspires to help us do just that. Poetry from the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, a sacred scripture in Sikh culture, often states that “for every step we take toward the divine, God takes a thousand to us.”
To me, this speaks of how essential courage and faith are. The courage to take just one step into the wilderness of life is always met with a paved road, and sometimes flashing runway lights! But it starts with action from our heart and agreement to listen to the guidance of our spirit. Reassurance and understanding, play toys for the mind, often come later.
Letting go is always an invitation to inhabit a new dream. This eclipse season, what are you summoning the courage to let go of? How are you freeing up storage space for a logistically uncertain but palpably real upgrade?
May we all have the courage to stand on the edge and leap when the time is right; especially when we don’t know exactly where a new beginning will take us.
With an outpouring of blessings,
Gian Jasdeep