How this poem got me out of a funk
The past few weeks I have often noticed these thoughts running through my head on repeat.
“I feel like I’m constantly behind.”
“I don’t have enough time.”
“Why is time going so fast?”
Maybe you can relate.
I am well aware that I can’t control time. And that it tends to magically shrink or expand in relation to how we feel about it.
So I started making my mantra, “I have more than enough time for everything I need and want to do.”
It helped and often I would get all the things done.
But I still felt overwhelmed and like I was pushing through.
Have you had those days? (Or weeks? Or months?)
There are two patterns that often emerge during times like these.
Our desire and attempts to control are incredibly high: maybe we’re afraid or we want a certain outcome or we feel like no one is able to help us, but whatever the reasons, we hold on tighter and tighter to as many aspects of our lives as we can.
We’re not being present: often we’re very future focused, which can increase anxiety since the future is unknown. This not only makes us want to increase control in the present, but it also means we’re not actually living in the present moment (hence why time seems to be flying by).
During meditation one morning, I came across a poem. It’s a poem. I’ve heard before, but didn’t remember completely and decided it would be perfect for this moment.
It captures the essence of all the somewhat comical ways we try to control and tend to make things harder than they need to be, in a way that made me smile and lightened my load.
And I wanted to share it with you.
You can hear me read the poem, She Let Go by Safire Rose, or read the words yourself below
She Let Go
by Safire Rose
She let go.
She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.
She let go of the fear.
She let go of the judgments.
She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head.
She let go of the committee of indecision within her.
She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons.
Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.
She didn’t ask anyone for advice.
She didn’t read a book on how to let go.
She didn’t search the scriptures.
She just let go.
She let go of all of the memories that held her back.
She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward.
She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.
She didn’t promise to let go.
She didn’t journal about it.
She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer.
She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper.
She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope.
She just let go.
She didn’t analyze whether she should let go.
She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter.
She didn’t do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment.
She didn’t call the prayer line.
She didn’t utter one word.
She just let go.
No one was around when it happened.
There was no applause or congratulations.
No one thanked her or praised her.
No one noticed a thing.
Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.
There was no effort.
There was no struggle.
It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad.
It was what it was, and it is just that.
In the space of letting go, she let it all be.
A small smile came over her face.
A light breeze blew through her.
And the sun and the moon shone forevermore…
I hope it made you smile and lightened your load today too.
