How To Find Calm And Peace In Life

I held on to everything I had in my life. I always tried to build businesses but always kept working jobs I didn’t like as backup. And when I would need to change the job, I didn’t like. I would put my business on hold and search for another job.

I got so scared when money stopped coming in, that I did everything to have it back. And so, I stayed stuck for many years. I hated my life, but always moved to another thing I thought will bring me success. Though there was always something in the back of my head that was keeping me afraid and stuck.

I was afraid to let go! I felt everything should be controlled and I didn’t want to lose what I had or accumulated. It’s sad now that I think about it. And after years of neurotic holding on to what I have. I realized, you can’t hold on to anything…

You can’t hold on to your money, you can’t hold on to your spouse, you can’t hold on to anything. Everything comes and goes and it’s not good or bad. It just is!

We label events as good and bad. But in the long run, we never know how that good event might turn out. It might be something that keeps us stuck for a lifetime. I remember viewing a documentary once about an old man who lived in a small town in America.

He made the winning shot in the high school basketball final. Like in the movies… At the last second, he makes the shot and wins the game. An amazing feeling, he felt that day. And it was great. It was a beautiful event. But because everyone spoke to him like he was a hero. He wanted to hang on to that feeling and adulation from people.

So, he never left that small town. Stayed there and lived only through the memory of that game. Even in old age, he was very proud of it. But you see…

He couldn’t let go of himself. He couldn’t, and he just stayed there, stuck in the past!

Control in life is an illusion. We only need to move forward and forget the rest. Just because we succeeded in something today does not mean we need to hold on to it and guard it. Or repeat it again and again. Once you have experienced something there is no need to repeat it. You move on and if it does happen again great and if it doesn’t that’s great as well.

When you let go of… yourself, your thoughts, and desires, and just do the thing in front of you to the best of your ability with no thought of the outcome. You will live a simple and beautiful life. A life full of spontaneity and wonder. You are free to slow down and love what you do. You can really appreciate the things that happen in your life. And you just feel calm!

But this is not an easy thing to do. Because we hold on too tight! And we live in fear and anxiety that the things we have will be taken away. Or that we will lose the people we care about. But the thing is… holding on too tight will make us lose them or start to be unhappy with them.

We always look to become something, to succeed in something. We feel we need to succeed. But this need is seldom fulfilled!

I remember once, when I was watching a comedy show and the comedian said something that I thought was profound. He said…

‘’We keep saying children are our future. Do you remember when ‘’you’’, were the future?’’

He meant it as a joke, but the audience was silent for a moment. And then some nervous laughter came. But that awkward pause, gave me chills. Because I realized all of these people had hopes and dreams and most didn’t realize them. Because they held on too tight to whom they thought they were or to what they had. They probably, most of them anyway, lived a comfortable life. But that pause meant they didn’t live the life they wanted.

And that my friends, is why we get depressed and angry all the time. We drink or party too much or we work too much and never see our families. We need to learn to let go and just do what’s in front of us without looking at the end result. Or even hoping that the end result will be good. We just do it! And then life becomes simple, and we are freed to do what we are meant to do.

And that is ‘’to be’’.