Let Go & Let Flow: 3 Steps to an Easier Life

Today we’ll talk about how life will never be perfect — but it can be easier when we stop fighting it. When we stop carrying baggage, and those heavy life rocks we were never meant to carry. When we stop arguing with reality and start flowing with it instead.

✨ We explore:
 – How to re-frame resistance into redirection
 – How a simpler life can actually be a more fulfilled life
– What it means to believe that life is working for you, not against you

🎧 Tap the link to listen so you can put down those rocks today so you can begin to let life be easier…to let go and let flow because you deserve an easier, more peaceful life!

Transcript

Welcome to our little show, the show where we explore the art of personal growth, wellness, and finding peace in the chaos of life. Thank you for showing up today...maybe you’re looking to slow things down a bit, maybe you’re looking to stop struggling so much, you’re wanting to find more peace and you’ve come to the right place. And if someone sent this episode to you, thank them for caring about you enough to do that one small thing for you. Today we’re talking about the idea that life isn’t always easy—but it can be easier if we stop fighting it. And maybe more importantly to control what we can and where we have control of our choices in life, to stop making it all so complicated and begin to choose a simpler path, to choose more minimal but more peaceful lifestyles.

We often resist what life hands us, thinking we know best. But what if the real key to peace is learning to go with the flow of life instead of struggling against it? Life is full of unexpected events. Sometimes, things don’t go the way we planned. You lose a job, a relationship ends, opportunities slip through your fingers. Our instinct is often to resist—to fight against what’s happening, to wish it were different, to dwell on how unfair it all seems. But all that energy fighting reality doesn’t typically change it. The more we resist, the harder life feels. It’s like swimming against the current—you exhaust yourself without making much progress. The truth is, we’re often given exactly what we need, even though it’s not what we want or it’s not what we think we need at the time.

There’s a Zen saying: Letting go is hard, but holding on is harder. Think about that for a second. How much energy do we waste holding onto things that no longer serve us? How much suffering do we create by refusing to accept what is?

I heard a saying on another podcast, Everything that you are attached to makes you heavy and it’s what makes you stuck. so don’t you feel like if you could just let go of that anger, if you could just drop the emotional baggage for a bit...imagine how that could feel.

Imagine carrying a backpack full of rocks. Each rock represents something you refuse to let go of—a past mistake, an old grudge, a dream that didn’t pan out. The longer you carry that weight, the more exhausted you become. Have you seen that Instagram post where a teacher shows his students how he holds a glass of water and asks is this heavy? And of course tey all respond no, but then he notes how after an hour, a few hours, it feels heavier, with the point being that when we hold onto things and aren’t able to let go in an intentional way, how heavy life can feel. But here’s the thing: you have the power to put the backpack down. You can choose to release the weight and move forward freely. Even if you don’t have the strength right now to take it off your back, maybe you can remove one or 2 of the rocks to help make things lighter and help you recharge until you’re ready to take on the rest.

But how do we do that? How do we stop ourselves from resisting those rocks the universe is handing us? And what about the bags we are picking up that others have put down in front of us or have subconsciously asked us to carry and we do it because we feel like we’re supposed to.

The first thing I want you to think about and focus on is to truly believe that life is working FOR you and not AGAINST you. One of the biggest mindset shifts we can make is understanding that life isn’t out to get us—it’s guiding us. What if the obstacles in your path weren’t there to stop you, but to teach you? What if the disappointments were not people and situations letting you down but instead were redirections towards what you were meant for? What if those rocks are in fact stepping stones? When we start seeing life through this lens, things become easier.

You might not get the job you wanted, but maybe it’s because there’s a better opportunity ahead. That relationship may have ended, but perhaps it was making you smaller instead of helping you grow. And I get it, we all find it’s so much easier to focus on what we don’t have instead of what we do have. But negativity and fear are the antithesis to gratitude so you can’t be in that grateful mindset when you’re mindset is stuck in the negative… and the opposite is true. Gratitude is the antithesis to negativity and fear so once you set your mind to focus on what you do have, and I don’t mean stuff, but that you have a loving home, you have people who love you, you have your health, you have a purpose and maybe you don’t have all of these, but maybe you have at least one of them, so focus on that one simple thing and that gratitude can ease life for a bit.

Second is to practice acceptance. Acceptance doesn’t mean we have to love everything that happens. It simply means we stop arguing with reality. Byron Katie, a well-known teacher of self-inquiry, has said, When you argue with reality, you lose, but only 100% of the time.

So, how do you practice acceptance? Start by noticing your resistance. What are you fighting and maybe reflect more importantly on why...what is it you’re trying to hold onto and why? Sometimes it’s just what we know, its what we are used to. Even if it no longer serves us, we find comfort in the pattern even if it’s truly uncomfortable, and that’s all it is...a pattern. You’re not broken, you don’t need to be fixed, you just need to break the pattern and sometimes that means doing something different but that something different may be just leaning into acceptance, seeing the pattern from a different perspective. Like when you look at those illusions and you see a mixed up pattern but then when you relax and let your eyes unfocus, you see a beautiful rainbow hiding in the pattern. Remind yourself that resisting won’t change anything. Take a deep breath and ask: “What if this is exactly what I need right now?” What if this is exactly where I’m supposed to be right now, this is exactly what I’m supposed to see right now, because it is...where you are is where you are and it’s where you’re meant to be, for now. Tomorrow maybe the pattern will change but for now, look and see what’s been woven into it.

So much of our suffering comes from trying to control what we can’t. But the truth is, we don’t have nearly as much control as we think. We can’t control other people. We can’t control the future. We can’t force things to go our way. What we can control is how we respond. Instead of clinging to what we think should happen, we can surrender to what is happening and trust the process. 

If you’re spiritual, you might call it trusting the universe, God, or fate. If you’re more logical, you might see it as trusting the natural order of things. Either way, trusting that you’re being led in the right direction takes a huge weight off your shoulders. When something unexpected happens, instead of thinking, “Why is this happening to me?” try shifting your mindset to, “What is this teaching me?” or “Where is this leading me?”

One of the hardest things to let go of and some of the biggest rocks to put down is the past—old regrets, failures, or situations that didn’t go the way we wanted. But the past only has power over you if you keep reliving it. That is where the suffering is...constantly reliving the same bad situation, the same negative feelings, and seeing it the same way in the same story. So how can you change that...how do you find a new story that can help you grow and focus on where you’re at right now? Forgive yourself. Keep reminding yourself you did the best you could with what you knew at the time. Forgive others because they too are on their own path, their own journey and are doing the best they know how. Now that may not be enough for you or it may result in mistreatment of you at their lack of growth, but find your own growth and forgive them. Not for them, but for you—so you’re not carrying that weight anymore. Focus on the present. What can you do today to move forward? What one little step or change can you make to let go of your past, their past and as Oprah Winfrey says, ..turn your wounds into wisdom

The third thing to focus on and questions is are you creating some of that weight and baggage by feeding yourself with things, cars, houses, clothing, things that feel like they fill you up but they are like cotton candy...looks good, feels good when you eat it but it’s all vapid...it’s all air and it’s not sustainable for a healthy life. It’s all unhealthy feelings that do nothing for your actual physical and mental health. And it’s never enough...with sweets, you eat one and then you want more and the more you eat the more you rely on it and the more you need it to feel good. The more stuff you get, the more you need to keep up with everyone else even though it might not be what you really want or need in your life but you can’t back down now...you’re expected to live this lifestyle. But do you really need to make life crazy with for example so many activities for your kids, don’t you deserve a night to just chill? Do you really need to have a huge meal ready every night...couldn’t a simple “clean out the fridge” night talking around the table be enough? And if the kids only want peanut butter and jelly that one night, is that so awful if it gives you some relief? I recently watched a Ted Talk from 2011 with Jon Jandai called “Life is easy, why do we make it so hard?” He spoke about how growing up in Thailand as a child and when he actually realized that he was poor and how that was equated to the things he and his family did NOT have. And when he grew up how he was supposed to go to university and get a job, how he moved to Bangkok in order to make his life better with more money and education but how he was living in a small room with many people, not eating well and how he felt so dark in his life. And he questioned the thought of going into debt for 30 years for a house and I know a lot of young people are looking at that today and wondering if that’s really the dream that they should be chasing? Mr. Jandai thought not and he moved back to his family, built a home with what was around him, an earthen home in just a few months without debt, and the whole point of his talk was why do we have to make thing so complicated? That it was very easy especially if we stop trying to keep up with everyone or doing what we “should” do versus what we feel works best for our lives without comparison, without judgment. He found that moving back and living a very simple life growing his own food and eating well enough to sell the extra, he stopped trying to dress with the fashions and just dressed how he needed, he had so much more time to reconnect with himself and reconnect with others which added to his peace and happiness. How in this way of downsizing, minimizing, you have so much more time with yourself, with your thoughts and that is how you learn more about yourself and begin to truly know yourself and find your solid foundation no matter what happens in life. He talked about how he felt so much freer and without fear...if you don’t have so much to lose and so many people to impress, the fear evaporates. And he has lived that way for years and is now known as the Happiness Farmer and people come from all over the world to learn how to live a more simplistic life and find their happiness and peace because it’s all there in every one of us...our peace and happiness is and always has been within us but we need to slow down and make the space to listen, learn and appreciate those simple things and simple ways.

Life isn’t always easy, but it can be easier when we stop fighting it. When we stop resisting, let go of attachments, and trust the journey, we create space for peace and joy. When we stop focusing on the past, on things that happened and reliving being a victim time after time, when we stop worrying about the future when we don’t even know the growth and strength we will have obtained for all of it along the way, when we focus on the here and now, grateful for what is right in front of us and there is always something to be grateful for, that is where your peace and power lies. Again it’s a known scientific fact that when you are in gratitude, you cannot possibly feel negative emotions. Your brain just doesn’t work that way. 

 So here’s my challenge for you: What’s one thing you’ve been resisting in your life that you can stop fighting today? What one change can you make to create a simpler life...maybe it’s as simple as having a no-cook dinner once a week, maybe it’s forgiving someone and letting go of some anger. Try it. See how much lighter you feel.

Thank you for listening today. If this episode resonated with you, share it with a friend who might need to hear it, share it with someone who’s carrying too much weight. Until next time, let go, trust the process, and remember—life is unfolding exactly as it should. Stop fighting and resisting, and robbing yourself of the joy that is out there for you, ready for you to enjoy today. Let life be easy, let go and let flow, little by little and peace by peace.