Standing up from my chair, clenching the microphone, my heart racing, I scanned the room… eager faces looking at me. Our guest speaker, Agapi Stassinopoulos had asked us to answer the following question, “Am I enjoying my life? If not, what would I need to let go of, to live more with joy?”
I did not have the answer to her question, but my hand shot up to share anyway as I knew I had something to say. She picked me, and there I stood, with the answer to MY question… the one that formed inside me as I raised my hand.
What would I need to LET IN to live with more joy?
I heard a soft whisper enter my consciousness, “Let in Good, Let in God, Let in Gratitude.”
Letting go for me is about surrender. And simultaneously it feels like loss. However, to let something IN feels like a delicious inhale, a receiving, which is the natural state of feminine energy… the side of me I yearn to experience more deeply.
I shared this with the class, and the whole room responded in a collective exhale as if I was speaking some universal truth. It came through me, not from me. Half a second later, my mind caught up to what I was saying. My heart stopped racing, my hands no longer trembling, my mind clear and my voice strong.
Could it really be that simple? Just let in Good, God, and Gratitude? Then I heard the whisper again, “You are doing this right now.”
The next moment was Agapi asking me, “Are you a writer?”
Trepidatiously I answered, “Well, yes,”
“Good,” she said, “ I would like you to write me an article on the Three G’s that I can post on Thrive Global. 800 words. 2 weeks. Good?”
“Yes, Good!” I answered. I released the microphone and sat down.
With the biggest smile on my face, “was I just asked to write?”
YES, I was! Hell Yes, I was!
Let in GOOD.
In my learnings and teachings, I understand that there is essential goodness in each of us and in all things, a divine design, an “order.” With this awareness, there is a freedom to imagine, freedom to create and freedom to choose.
Holocaust survivor and author, Viktor Frankl wrote about finding this essential goodness in his book “Man’s Search for Meaning.” He lived with the knowledge that there is “GOOD” in all things, even extremely challenging situations become an opportunity to seek and find the essential goodness that is always present.
This is what I am referring to as “the good” in the three-gs. So you didn’t get the job you wanted, GOOD. There is an opportunity here for growth, or maybe there is something more you need to learn, so now you can go and learn it. GOOD. This is a direction. And direction is GOOD. There is also GOODness in everything, including people; you just have to practice seeing it. If you look for the Good, you will find it, and you will feel it. Equally, if your lens is filtered to see the“bad” or what’s wrong, you will find that too. It’s just a matter of choice.
So what do you want to see? What do you look for? Well then, that is what you will find. My invitation to you is practice seeing the GOOD, let all other things fall to the cutting room floor and experience the GOOD that life has to offer you.
Let in GOD.
God, Spirit, The Universe, (insert your word here) and I have had an interesting relationship over the years. The big “G” has mostly lived in my mind and heart as some elusive presence, something “out there”… an idea that morphs into a feeling a couple of times a year during holidays or during big life events, like when my daughter was born.
If you ask me if I want to be closer to God, my answer is “yes.” A solid yes with one thing in the way… I have had some real trust issues with God. Because when push comes to shove, I have mostly relied on myself to “make” things happen. In the past, I have had a hard time trusting that things would all “work out” as some of my more spirit-led friends would suggest. Most of my life achievements, I have attributed to hard work and persistence. God didn’t seem to have much to do with it. But as they say, “God works in mysterious ways.”
Slowly over time, God has found her way into my life. Recently, I was hiking through Malibu Creek with my 5-year-old daughter when I was overcome with a deep sense of peace and oneness of all things. The rich colors of purple from the wild lavender flowers, the bursts of yellow from the mustard seed plants and the stark contrast of the burned out trees and the scorched earth from our recent fires, captivated my attention, and God was everywhere, showing off her beautiful creation. As I watched my daughter run freely down the dirt road towards the flowing creek, the pureness of her expressions of joy filled me with wonder. At this moment, I was in AWE of my AWE. I had let God in.
Let in GRATITUDE.
Gratitude should be a verb. With a root word, something like “gravitar.” Some gratitude just shows up, but I find most of it is a conscious choice for me. Perhaps I’m not predisposed to automatic large doses of gratitude. Which is fine, because I know that being grateful is a muscle that can be developed and a habit that can be learned.
First of all, you cannot be angry and grateful at the same time; I’ve tried. You try it. The next time you are really upset, try arguing with a smile or take out a piece paper and start writing down all the things you that you love, the good in your life, all the things you have to be grateful for and then see how quickly your anger disappears. If you are not sure what to be grateful for, here are some things that work for me: Be grateful for waking up this morning and having the ability to see with both eyes, for turning on your faucet and enjoying fresh water, for the opportunity to hug your child before bedtime or to be able to choose what you will eat tomorrow. Be grateful for the roof over your head, for the car that is reliable, for the song of the birds, for the cleansing of the wind… Because when you are in your heart, it’s nearly impossible to be in your pain.
This my offering to you… Let in the Three G’s, and see how letting in the good, letting in God and letting in gratitude can automatically let out what no longer serves you, filling the spaces of your inner being with joy, peace, and love.