While writing this post, I am reminded of the serenity prayer:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Well, there are times I remember this in my mind, but not in my heart. How do I know? My body feels it, my body tells me.
My shoulders start getting sore. My chest is tight. I get esophageal spasms. I get dark circles under my eyes.
So how do I let go of those things I can’t change? What helps my heart remember?
NOT GIVING A F**K. (A.K.A. LETTING IT ALL GO)
Not really Zen or sage-like. But this is how my heart gets it.
Yup. Maybe it’s because of my all or nothing personality, maybe it’s because I have to match the intensity of what I am feeling with an opposite feeling of the same intensity.
While my mind knew that I was worrying about things that were out of my control, I was also holding on to all those worries in that same mind. The worries were blocking that truth from entering my heart. My heart needed those worries completely gone before it could remember.
But what I was really remembering was to let go and trust the universe again.
That how things seem at this moment in time does not give me any information about how things will look in a few days.
These are things that I believe deep inside, but let’s face it, it is hard to remember when you’re right in the middle of a tough time. When I have intense stress, reminding myself to stop giving a f**k opens my heart up to reaffirm these beliefs and to feel calm throughout my entire body and soul. To take a REAL deep breathe. Not one that is forced. To meditate on my personal truths and increase that calm that my heart is now open to feeling.
It helps remind me that ultimately, I must let go of those things I can’t control.
Honestly, these are the words I say to myself and it works. So be it.
Do you have any weird things you say to yourself that ground you again?