The idea of letting go and letting God take over your entire life (or, that which you can do nothing about) is daunting for most people. It may invoke a sense of powerlessness or hopelessness that can be quite frightening especially if you want to maintain control over what happens to you in order to feel ‘safe’. I undergo this emotional state often and I see others experiencing the same thing – what most of us have in common is the visceral knowledge of what it is to feel unsafe due to abusive or traumatic life events.
Try as you (or we) might, you cannot control everything or anything at all in some cases. The only thing that could be managed is your reaction to life’s ups and downs but there are times when this is simply not possible. For example, I could not stand by while one of my loved ones is harmed and merely chant the mantra “Let go, Let God”. I would definitely want to exert some control over that type of situation.
The aforementioned scenario is not all that common (at least, not in my life, Thank God!), so in other situations when you truly cannot do anything, you must step back for your own sake. The belief in God or a Higher Power is not necessary. You may leave it to your subconscious or your mind to help you release something, or, find a solution for it through your nocturnal dreams or your waking dreams (i.e. daydreaming). Doing the latter, usually requires some kind of letting go anyway. For instance, putting aside a work project that you cannot continue because you have run out of ideas or are too tired to go any further.
Deciding to let go by allowing God to take over or some deeper part of yourself, is really one and the same thing – it is for me, anyway. Whatever you choose to call it or however you choose to think about it, the results are the same. The outcomes are usually better than anything you could do by relying only on your will.
Helen
