Wait a minute,...

There are so many things you can say that sound like you are saying the exact same thing, yet they are completely different. For example, let's say you have dental insurance and they tell you your policy covers cleanings every 6 months. You get off the phone thinking, Ok, perfect I get 2 cleanings per year. You schedule your appointment, get your teeth cleaned and walk out feeling all Jim dandy because your insurance is going to "cover it". AND THEN you get a bill because your insurance DIDN'T cover it!!! You're thinking what the hell, I called and checked on this.

However, a cleaning every 6months is very different than 2 cleanings in a year. You see? It sounds the same, but it is not.

The same goes when you are having a conversation with someone that is experiencing a challenging situation in their life. You are listening, listening, listening and listening some more. You can tell they are all into this challenge because they are not able to emotionally detach. You try to interject some tips on letting go of what is creating the challenge in their life and they respond with, "I know", repeatedly. When really a more appropriate answer would be, "I hear what you're saying", because if they actually did "know" about letting go, they wouldn't be challenged by the situation in which they are so emphatically speaking.

This may seem like a harsh judgement on my part, but really what it is, is raised awareness. It is an attempt on my part to practice letting go. It definitely is a process and it always will be. As long as we are humans, we will have challenges and opportunities to practice letting go. Our human selves have this mind function called ego that is about controlling, getting approval and judgement.

Once we let go of trying to control and just allow people and situations to simply be, our stress level drops dramatically.

Once we let go of trying to get approval and just allow ourselves to be our authentic selves, our stress level drops dramatically.

Once we let go of judging others and allow them to be their authentic selves we can provide ourselves with on opportunity to be our authentic selves without fear of judgement.

Whew! I feel better already! That sounds like such a sense of relief. I vow to myself to live at a raised sense of awareness and because of that I allow you to be your authentic self, whatever that means to you is none of my business.

Knowing something and living something are very different things.