1/21/05: The Letting Go Yo-Yo

Ever play with a yo-yo? First we release the yo-yo from our grip, let it fall naturally, then we give a little tug and it comes back.

When we release a problem from our mind's grip, we let it go and it resolves itself naturally. But if we start worrying about how it will get resolved, who is going to resolve it, or what's going to happen if it doesn't get resolved, we have taken it back.

Our thoughts and emotions are the little tug it needs to come back to us.

So though we have let it go for a moment, in the next moment, we have taken it back. It is like saying, "God, I hand over this problem to you, I leave it in your hands now," and in the next breath we say, "but please hurry and resolve it in the way I want."

When we add that next breath of "but," we have just taken it back. The way you will know if you've truly let go, moment after moment, is if it doesn't come back to you. If you stop worrying about it, crying over it, and stewing in it, you have let it go. If you stop scheming for ways to resolve it, tightening up at the thought of it, and talking about it, you have let it go.

The good thing about yo-yos is that you can always let it go again once you've tugged it back. Eventually though, you'll have to put that yo-yo down and get on with your life.