Ann

You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go

Don't stop living your life!

So often, when a problem occurs, inside or around us, we revert to thinking that if we put our life on hold we can positively contribute to the solution. If a relationship isn't working, if we face a difficult decision, if we're feeling depressed, we may put our life on hold and torment ourselves with obsessive thoughts.

Abandoning our life or routines contributes to the problem and delays us from finding the solution.

Frequently, the solution comes when we let go enough to live our life, return to our routine, and stop obsessing about the problem.

Sometimes, even if we don't feel like we have let go or can let go, we can act as if we have, and that will help bring about the letting go we desire.

You don't have to give up your power to problems. You can take your focus off your problem and direct it to your life, trusting that doing so will bring you closer to a solution.

Today, I will go on living my life and tending to my routine. I will decide, as often as I need to, to stop obsessing about whatever is bothering me. If I don't feel like letting go of a particular thing, I will act as if I have let go of it until my feelings match my behavior.

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation.

Ann

I can't tell you how many times I put my life on hold while
I obsessed about "what might have been" or "what if tomorrow"
when the solution was to live in today and squeeze every
ounce of joy out of it and open my eyes and ears to all
the beauty around me.

A member sent me this reading today for posting, and her
timing was exactly right. I needed the reminder
that each day is a gift that I can squander in obsession and regret,
or that I can get busy living in the solution of my recovery.

I'm no spring chicken, and my days become more valuable as
I get older. And hindsight has shown me that living in obsession and fear
did nothing to make my day better...not once, not ever.

So, just for today I will LIVE it, grateful for all the gifts in
my life.

How about you? How will you choose to live today? You
DO have a choice.

Hugs

Hammerhead

Here is my analogy...

Kinda like working and paying the bills... all the sudden you receive an unexpected bill in the mail... and it's a doozie... and you don't know how you're going to pay it.... so you panic and then begin to pace the floor....

So do you quit working so you can obsess over your new bill? Heck no!

You keep working...at least you're making money that could be contributed to the new bill... before you know it... the bill becomes manageable... or better yet you hit the lottery! Just kiddin...

But I think you get my point.

ajangels2

Thanks Ann... I've got some doozie problems right now going on in my life that seem to invade my thoughts way too often. I had even thought that maybe I needed to put off my trip next weekend to visit my grandmother. With everything going on in my life most would say, how can you spend money on a trip? I haven't been home to see my family and friends in such a long time. This is my grandmother's 85th birthday and she is forgetting who I am because of her dementia. Soon, she won't know me.. so I'm going. I'm going to enjoy her and get as many hugs as I can because I don't know when that will happen again. It can be so easy to let our problems rule our lives, but what is really important here? It's being with the people we love and care about. It's about taking care of ourselves and making sure that we are doing what we can. If I take that little bit of money and pay a bill, guess what, that bill will still be there next month.

Nothing can replace the time I can spend with people I love and people who love me back. Thanks again for helping me remember what is really important.

Ann

How very true that is. Too many times I neglected family and friends who loved me because I was so caught up in my own chaos and I was afraid of what might happen when I was away. If I had anything to change in my life, in hindsight, that would be the change...I'd go, enjoy, feel the love and freedom.

Hugs