8 Ways to Let Go (of a person, place, or thing)

Good Grief

Buddhism asserts that attachment is the primary source of suffering. So then detachment or "non-attachment" would be our ticket out of that pain. Except that it's not so easy... letting go of a person, place, or thing that has our heart temporarily held hostage.

You may be grieving the death of a loved one, or the end of a friendship you had hoped would be more, or merely the realization that your father will never be able to give you what you need from that relationship. It seems as though every moment of this life is about letting go, of something or someone that is renting far too much space in our heads. And while there is no way I’d call myself a "let go" expert, I have done a considerable amount of research in this area. So the following are some techniques that... well... will at least get us started.

Written by Therese J. Borchard, Beyond Blue

Live in the Present

One of the most beautiful descriptions of grief I've ever heard was from Owen Stanley Surman, M.D., a practicing hospital psychiatrist who lost his wife and wrote a memoir about it, The Wrong Side of an Illness: A Doctor's Love Story. In my interview with him awhile back, I asked him how, exactly, does a person concentrate on the moment and know that love is a precious gift not to be taken for granted. He explained:

"In Lezlie's passing, I began to live in the present. Tragedy had cast a spotlight on the beauty of life and the power of love. In Swan's Way, I learned from Marcel Proust that the past resides in what one has shared in love. Lezlie was with me. Given an opportunity to present at a conference in Jerusalem I explored the Via Dolorosa. At the 12th Station of the Cross, I gazed at the extraordinary crucifix and lit a candle. 'Lezlie,' I said amid an outpouring of soul wrenching tears, 'This one is for you!'"