Don’t worry, things will work out just fine. Everything will be ok. Just let go. Whenever you hear someone utter these words, how do you react? If you’re like me, you’ll think: Hmmm.. I don’t think so. As you might have already guessed, I am not a very trusting person. I’d rather take care of everything myself than leave something up to chance. Does that sound anything like you too?

When I was younger, I never felt that this was a problem. In fact, taking charge, predicting how things might fail and preparing for my predictions to come true actually helped me live my life. But as I got older and gained more life experience, I realized that I am not in control of many things. The more I attempted to take charge, the more difficult things got for me. I felt stuck and exhausted.

In the past, taking charge was a strategy that had always worked for me, so I kept looking for what to take charge of, but it was not working! Well, not anymore. When I got into meditation, I found a new strategy: trusting life and letting go.

Out of any other option, I slowly learned how to do that. For me, it looked like this: doing whatever I can, and after I hit that point when I know I’ve done my part well, I let go and let life do what it will. When I did this, I felt a sense of relief. I felt a sense of relief because I was finally able to share my load.

How did things turn out for me? I didn’t just get what I wanted because I got more than what I was able to imagine. And I will take that result any day. You see, when we hold on to something so tightly, there’s no space for anything else. Our focus becomes so narrow that we lose sight on what might be better for us. There’s no room for magic. When we set our intention, take our best action towards our intention, and loosen our grip, our perspective widens. Then, more information and opportunities come into deeper and sharper focus. That’s when we allow ourselves to be curious about other things and make room for magic to come into our lives.

The key to this is in the ability to trust. What is your relationship with life like? Do you believe that life is looking out for you or is it out to get you? Your answer is just your starting point. And as a starting point, you can always improve it towards what going to help you live the life you love.

At some point, life will require you to hand over control. Nobody is 100% in control of anything. That is one of the lessons that the pandemic taught us. No matter how much information or resources you have, there are just some things you cannot control. Nor would you want to. With so much possibility lying out there, why would you want to?

Take time to examine your relationship with life. Learn to trust it. Loosen your grip on things. Make room for magic.