The art of letting go...

It’s a brand new year. Has your email inbox been flooded with ways to increase your productivity and start living your best life? Mine sure has.

Maybe you’ve started the new year off with a bang. You’ve jumped in, organized half your house, jumped out of bed at 5am to workout, read 4 personal development books and are cooking your family organic, clean meals each night.

Or…maybe you haven’t.

Maybe you feel like you had a false start. Four days in and you want a do over.

Or…maybe you’re stuck. Maybe you’re thinking about all the ways you want to make 2021 better than 2020 but don’t know where to start. You’ve got so many ideas and new habits you want to implement but feel like you are frozen.

I’ve had those years—the years my habit tracker didn’t really start until mid-January.

Have no fear, friend. Take a BIG breath.

Come on…really do it with me. 1…..2……3……

For many, 2020 was a traumatic year. It was a year that consisted of extended periods of stress, anticipation anxiety, constant pivoting, technology overload, isolation, maybe illness and more.

It is hard to walk into a fresh new year carrying all the baggage from 2020. It’s a heavy load, no matter what your bags are filled with.

Maybe you have some bags that you’ve been carrying around since long before 2020. Those bags have been with you for so long that they have seemingly become an extension of you.

It’s time to put ‘em down my friend. It’s time to lighten your load and walk forward without weary arms. It’s time to forgive the wrongs, to move past the personal disappointments, to stop beating yourself up, and to lay down regret. It’s time to leave behind shame, discouragement and feeling defeated.

A practice I learned a long time ago, is writing a “let go” letter. Have you written your let go letter for 2020? If you have no idea what I’m talking about, let me explain.

Pull out a sheet of paper. Write down all your hurts and pains—the baggage you’ve been carrying with you. Maybe your letter is addressed to a particular person, someone who caused hurt. (You’re not actually mailing this. I’m not advocating hate mail). Maybe your letter is addressed to 2020 or maybe to yourself.

Take a few moments of quiet. Get your feelings out. Be real and don’t hold back.

How do you feel?

Are you angry, hurt, fearful? Are you disappointed, shamed, defeated?

What was your experience like?

Who do you need to forgive? Someone who caused hurt? Yourself?

Dig deep, and then deeper.

Don’t hold back. Let it all out.

When you’re done, take a deep breath.

Then rip it up and throw it away (some like to burn their letter—-if that’s you, do it safely!)

I want to speak a truth to you. If you’re reading this, you made it. You made it to 2021. My guess is one day you’ll back on 2020 and own a lesson or two. Maybe you won’t be grateful for 2020, but you’ll own the muck it threw at you. Something from it will make you stronger, if it hasn’t already.

If you’re still questioning whether that’s true, the sheer fact that you walked through an incredibly tough year and are still standing says something. It says you are stronger than you thought you were. It says you are more capable than you knew.

So now, it’s time to walk forward with the lessons but leave the baggage behind.

Make today a beautiful day,