If there is something in life you really want to let go of, now is the
time....to RELEASE.

We humans seem to accumulate masses of unwanted stuff.  If it's not
regularly removed, we've got a mess on our hands!  (Ever seen what
happens to a city during a sanitation department strike?  Yuk!)

Releasing what we no longer want or desire...to throw out what is no
longer working or waht we can't use anymore...is crucial to our inner
world as well.  Release is a significant part of our lives, whether it's
releasing a relationship that's no longer working, a harmful old habit,
or a way of thinking or feeling which has kept us emotionally or
spiritually riveted to one spot for too long.

Release is one of the most important steps in our emotional and
spiritual development.  In fact, without release iner growth is
impossible.  Release involves letting go of something from the
past....REALLY letting go.  While this is simple in theory, it can prove
difficult to do.  Too often we hold on to a habitual pattern, even when
we think we have thrown it away.  It's as if we tried to lighten the
boat and increase its speed by tossing the anchor overboard but left it
stll tied to the rope.  We've gotten the anchor out of our sight, but it
will drag along behind, slowing the speed even more.

Too often our inability to completely release parts of our past shows in
our tendency to constantly rehast past events, never really leaving them
buried.  And so we may grumble about how things used to be, the steps we
took to get where we are, and "where we're at" now.  We often comb
through our pasts, looking for and analyzing the reasons we feel as we
do.  Rather than accepting the fact that whatever happened is over and
deciding to get on with life, we can become haunted with what was.

If we're taking out the garbage, we shouldn't go back and root through
it.  Best to throw it out and focus our attention on the present.
'Where do I go from here?' is what's important now.  All else is a waste
of time.

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YOUR LIFE:  FILLED OR FULFILLED?

It's interesting how our lives can be so full of activities and material
possessions and yet feel so empty at the same time.  We can't cram one
more responsibility into our schedule or one more item into our closet,
but there is an emptiness as big as a mountain within our hearts.  Why
is this so?  Maybe we've confused living a 'fulfilled' life with living
a 'filled' life.  They are not at all the same.

Each of us has a basic level or responsibility that we need to
accomplish, such as feeding our children, showing up at work, paying our
bills.  Then there are the added or optional responsibilities that we
take on, such as volunteering at church or at our children's school, or
joining a civic organization.  Perhaps we are trying to finish our
degree or are taking pottery classes for pleasure.  These activities are
over and above our survival necessities.  It is when we overload our
lives with optional decisions and confuse them with the required ones
that we end up filled but not 'fulfilled'.

Choosing between required and optional is not a cut-and-dried matter,
however.  There is a fine line between the two when we look at what we
need to live a fulfilled life.  Is meditation optional?  Is alone time a
luxury?  If the pottery class is the only thing keeping us from
screaming aloud, perhaps "optional" is not the best way to categorize
it.  We achieve fulfillment when we can balance not only the required
and optional tasks, but also reach a balance between fulfilling and
depleting tasks.   Finding the balance where our responsibilities and
happiness can be accommodated without leaving us frazzled is the key.

So what will stay and what will go?  There are some things that, when
added to our lives, act like balloons and lift the weight off our
shoulders.  They allow us to accomplish more with less stress and with
more pleasure.  Some of these might be:  Prayer, meditation, retreats,
massages, aromatherapy, quiet time, vacations, and classes.  Have you
ever struggled with a problem for hours, then, after a brief walk or
interruption, come back to it and figured out a solutions within
minutes?  That's the power of making room in your life for a change, a
detour, or a break.  You may say you don't have time to take a break,
yet I feel we don't have time NOT to take a break.
A short respite will make us more efficient, lighten our mood, clear our
thoughts, and leave us more relaxed and pleasant.  If your other option
is to remain stressed-out grumps, I vote for breaks!

There will always be relationships that are more needy of your time and
energy than others.  Which one are still fulfilling?  Sometimes
relationships that once fulfilled and enhanced our lives become drains
on us.  It may be time to transform that relationship or to let it go.

In our confusion between a fulfilled life and a filled one, we often
think that we look important if we look busy.  I once felt that way
years ago.  I now tell people that I don't "do" burnout.  I have learned
to say no.  The truth is that even though we are less busy on the
outside, we are actually living a richer life on the inside.  We have
time to focus on the moment.  When we are rushed, our minds are
somewhere else while we are taking care of another thing.

If you are feeling frazzled and pulled in too many directions, now is
the time to stop what you are doing and take a deep breath.  Why are you
doing what you are doing?  Is it required?  Is is fulfilling?  Rushing
through our days causes us to miss the preciousness of the moment.  Take
a break right now and balance yourself on that 'teeter-totter'.
Then you can sit down on it and play!

YOUR THOUGHTS:

Did you know that thoughts cause emotions?  Although you can't choose
your emotions, you CAN learn to significally choose the thoughts that
produce them.  Keep in mind that it's not your actual circumstances that
cause your emotions.  It's your thoughts .....like attitudes....that
cause them.

Here's a few thoughts you may want to think about: