Holding it lightly

 

Holding things lightly is a phrase you often hear nowadays.

I’ve just returned from a lovely summer break. I became aware of just how easy it was to hold everything lightly when I was on holidays.

 

Why I wondered?

 

Maybe it was because I had no great agenda for my few weeks away. I went with the flow and most days, whatever emerged was fine by me. I didn’t need to control anything really.

 

So does that say that when I’m back to work and my more usual routines I begin to exert more control over people and situations? I know that try as I might to control situations and outcomes I can’t. I can possibly exert influence but in reality I know that life will unfold in ways that I can’t possibly predict or determine.

 

Having a white-knuckle hold on your to-do list, your job, your family, your commitments and the things you are responsible for makes you all bound up, tense and stressed. It chokes off all your creativity!

 

We are all stressed at times, all fearful and sometimes despondent and white-knuckling it makes it worse. Grasping, and trying too hard brings a heaviness of spirit.

 

What if you held these things lightly?

What if you could just let go and relax into the light?

 

Holding things lightly is a really effective way to diminish overwhelm and stress.

 

In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.

Gautama Buddha

 

 

 

Whatever you’re wrestling with… what if you held it just a little more lightly today?

 

It’s dark because you are trying too hard.
Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly.
Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply.
Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.

I was so preposterously serious in those days, such a humourless little prig.
Lightly, lightly – it’s the best advice ever given me.
…
So throw away your baggage and go forward.
There are quicksands all about you, sucking at your feet,
trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity and despair.
That’s why you must walk so lightly.
Lightly my darling,
on tiptoes and no luggage,
not even a sponge bag,
completely unencumbered.

Aldous Huxley