The Art of Allowing

Yesterday, I did something stupid. I had a to-do list longer than my arm. I had a million errands to run and at the top of my list was to drop off some papers to an agency. This was a high priority. I’m going over everything in my head that I have to do.

Ok, do I have everything? Where is the paperwork? Where are the receipts? Do I have my wallet? My keys, my phone?? So, I gather up all the kids, pile them in the car, and hit the road. Twenty-five minutes later, after pulling up in front of the building and turning off the car, I realize…. I left the bag with all the paperwork at home! *Smacks self on the forehead.

I could drive home and get it, but the facility would be closed by the time I drove back. So, what did I do? Chucked it up, shit happens. Gas is gone. It happened. There is nothing I could do but move on to the next errand.

You might be noticing that I handled that situation pretty well. I noticed it too. Years ago, I would have been pissed clean off. Even though, I was the one at fault, even though my brain malfunctioned, I still would have been mad. Mad at who? Mad at whoever.  I would have mad about my wasted gas, I would have been mad about the wasted 30 minutes of my life that I couldn’t get back. I, more than likely, would have been brooding and snappy for the rest of the day.

Well, I handled the even with such grace and ease because I practice the art of allowing. What is that, you may ask? The art of allowing is when you accept whatever is happening as what is happening with no judgement of attachment to the situation. You simply observe. Ok, that happened. Was there anything I could have done to stop it? No. Well, ok, that happened. You don’t attach a negative emotion or label to it. It isn’t good, it isn’t bad. It just “Is”. You are not replaying the event over and over in your head, fuming and brooding. You aren’t focusing on how it SHOULD HAVE gone. You are just accepting that it is what it is.

This increases your inner peace. This also increases the likelihood that outside occurrences won’t have any control over your emotional well-being. Now, the outer world cannot affect you. You get to decide how you feel and how you want to feel. This practice is a major stress reducer and boosts physical vitality.

There are people in the world that have heart attacks, not always from poor nutrition or genetics, but from the fact that they don’t know how to process and release stress. This is a major reason why the conscious spiritual path is so important. The conscious spiritual path does not replace a core religion or belief system. Its practices enhance those things and help you live a healthier and more tranquil life.

Allow things to happen because they are going to happen anyway, whether you like them or not. You cannot control everything that happens around you. You can only control your reaction. YOU get to decide how you want to feel. You don’t have to feel bad when something bad happens. It is a choice.

So, what were the end results of utilizing this technique, you may ask? I had a peaceful, centered state of being that lasted the entire day. The end. And feeling that was a whole lot better than feeling like crap over a stupid mistake.

Namaste Compadres,

- Aisha The Goddess