Ask Uttara: Letting go is something I am struggling with right now.

Question:

Letting go is something I am struggling with right now. My husband had a job interview weeks ago and still there is no word on whether he got the job. Everyday I tell myself to stop analyzing and obsessing over it. To let everything play out, but it is hard and I am constantly reminding myself to LET GO!

Dearest Reader:

Ahhhh, yes.  Often when we think of mindfulness or yoga or trusting the Universe we do indeed have to let go.  But the flip side of that is a quote (I cannot remember who to credit) -- "Only the dead fish go with the flow."

So what can you actually DO about this, besides spin all the possibilities around in your head and make yourself crazy?  I suggest trying to stay very present in each moment.  The interview is in the past and what will happen is in the future.  What are you doing about the magic moment of NOW?

Every time the mind wanders to oh-my-goodness-what-is-gonna-happen land, gently guide it back.  Observe your breath; engage in whatever it is that you are actually doing at that moment.

Be patient with your mind; of course it wants to know how things will unfold!  Remind it to trust the process and the wise energies that allow our karma to unfold.

Take some time to meditate and send positive energy towards the situation; maybe journal and write down the reasons why you feel this job would be good for your husband and seal them in an envelope and place it on a table with a flower in a vase.  Each time you see it, it will remind you that you have told the Universe the way YOU think things should work out.  Now it's up to the energies to align. 

Or not.  Because sometimes precisely what we think would be marvelous for us is NOT so marvelous.  You really don't know.

So indeed let go of the outcome; but take charge of the creative manifestation process.  Take time once a day to sit and visualize him getting the job and celebrating with you; pray; create space in your mind to just listen. 

And then live your life; stay in present-moment consciousness as much as you possibly can.  Count your breaths; walk in nature; get some exercise. 

Oh -- and do remember this great advice from the master yogi Dr. Seuss in his book Oh, the Places You'll Go!

You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
                        The Waiting Place . . .

. . . for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

Deepest blessings to you both,

Jill