Learning To Just Let Go

Most moms feel that their time is stretched. Is that an overstatement or what? There are so many things for us to do that we spend many days going from one task to another.

Get the kids ready for school – √
Get yourself ready for the day – √
Go to the gym – √
Get a load of laundry done – √
Go to work – √
Pick up kids from school – √
Get dinner ready – √
Help kids with homework – √
 
You get the picture. One way to increase self-fulfillment is to add things in your day/week that you love to do. These are activities that fuel you with energy. Connect with a friend for coffee or over a phone call. Read a book. Listen to your favorite music. Sounds pretty simple right?
 
Wrong. It’s not always that simple. Here’s why. Personally, I find journaling, taking walks outside and taking baths to be quite rejuvenating and therapeutic. These activities restore my sense of well-being, allow me time to reflect on what’s going on and just be. Trouble is, that as I started to incorporate them more into my daily life, they slowly became yet more things to do. If I didn’t go for a walk during the week, I felt guilty. If I didn’t journal every day, I felt guilty. If I didn’t take my Sunday night bath, I felt guilty. What’s up with that you ask?
 
Well it turns out that the “controlling” part of me expects things to be a certain way. So when I discovered these activities to be helpful, my mind immediately decided that they “should” be done and be done “perfectly” in order to get the most benefit. This was all done subconsciously of course, but the fact of the matter is that these soul-nurturing activities became “tasks”. The last thing I needed in my life was more tasks to complete.
 
Now, I’ve learned that for any activity to be restorative, I need to learn to let go of the outcome. I need to learn to enjoy the moment when it comes and stop trying to control how it will happen. It’s really hard for moms to let go since we spend so much time every day making things happen. Don’t we all get the feeling that if we didn’t control everything, our family would just cease functioning and fall apart?
 
But life coaching has taught me that much of personal development is about increasing my awareness. So now that I know how much I try to control things, hopefully I can learn to let go a little and really enjoy my restorative activities. Hmm, I wonder where else I could learn to let go?
 
Where do you need to learn to let go? Come share with us on our forum…
 
Written by Renee Walker