"Hitting bottom isn't a weekend retreat. It's not a goddamn seminar. Stop trying to control everything and just let go! Let go!" - Tyler Durden, 'Fight Club'
Guess how many problems you are solving by OVERTHINKING them. Guess how creative you can be by trying to be creative. Guess how much happiness you can find by seeking happiness?
The answer, of course, is none. Nothing you want can be solved by endlessly seeking it. So you're left with one option, give up. Seems counter-intuitive, doesn't it? Well, centuries and centuries of zen practice hasn't steered us wrong. Neither has all the scientific research done toward understanding the negative effects of stress on our minds and body.
You and your body are a self-regulating system. What this means is that endlessly seeking things, stressing over ideas, forcing ourselves to do something we don't know how to do, will destroy our sense of peace. By never having enough and always waiting for tomorrow, our now is lost. And when now is lost, we cease to truly exist.
Tyler Durden's advice, to "just let go" is the key to every sort of happiness you could hope to find, and I don't actually mean just giving up.
The idea of zen, and what Bruce Lee meant when he said "Be water, my friend", can both be translated into letting go of our attachments. Trusting our goals and letting go of our control in the moment. Even now as I'm writing this article, I am not struggling to come up with every single word, just as you are not struggling with reading every single word. My intent is to enlighten you, your intent is to understand what I mean. And we do this by trusting ourselves and our previous experience to guide us. What you are feeling when you are reading effortlessly is zen. You are already an expert at letting go.
It is this mindset that we can take everywhere we go, and which will do us the most good in every aspect in our lives. We don't read while also checking Facebook. We don't read while also doing something else. Likewise, when we are driving we must drive. When we draw we must draw. And when we are out with friends we must enjoy that as well. We must LET GO and enjoy the activity.
What we have failed to understand is that life is full of nuance. Unpredictability is around every turn, and if we hold our expectations tight, instead of BEING WATER, we will always be climbing obstacles.
However, if we let go and trust ourselves, we will find out just how easy it is to enjoy the moment, to create to our highest ability, to fully experience what life has to offer, and to be proud of what we accomplish.
You have permission to destroy your worries and concerns, to finally stop trying to control everything and everyone, to learn organically like the alive organism you are, and to feel full happiness right here and right now, despite any of the crap you're going through.
And why is this so important?
"First you have to give up, first you have to know... not fear... know... that someday you're gonna die." - Tyler Durden
