To let go spiritually is the opposite of clinginess, possessiveness, jealousy, addiction, codependency, and greed. It's not about literally physically letting go with your literal hands, but rather about giving up your toxic attachment and false identifications to thereby become spiritually free. The desperate jealous lover isn't really a lover at all, but just a miserable addict. They are possessed by possessiveness. Their greedy clinging hand becomes their handcuff. All the material stuff they greedily claim to own ends up actually owning them. They are the opposite of spiritually free; they are trapped by their own toxic attachments and addictions. They are slaves to temptation and fear, especially the fear of losing what they know they inevitably will lose.
Beware the phrase, "X makes me happy". It can imply that losing X would make you unhappy, as if your true happiness (a.k.a. inner peace) depends on externals. It doesn't.
Inner peace is inner.
Thus, true inner peace is invincible.
In place of saying things like "X makes me happy", where X is something external (i.e. something out of your control or something you will inevitably lose), you can say, "Today, one of the infinite things for which I am grateful happens to be X."
In other words, beware the question, "what makes me happy", because it can (falsely) suggest that your true happiness depends on externals and can be a way of (foolishly) asking yourself what would be a good reason to be unhappy, ungracious, and stop practicing gratitude tomorrow, or whenever you lose X, whatever it is. Instead, ask, "I will always be grateful and practice gratitude every day for the rest of my life. What am I grateful for today? What am I grateful for now?"
You can always be grateful. You can always practice gratitude. You don't need to desperately cling to what's eternally and always yours, such as your infinite ability to be grateful and practice gratitude and enjoy the invincible infinite happiness that such a practice offers.
Whatever feeling it is about, even the phrase "makes me feel" is a phrase that betrays the delusional blaming mindset of an addict or other spiritual slave, and the toxic rollercoaster it entails. It is not consistent with being a free-spirited (a.k.a. self-disciplined) person who realizes that true happiness (a.k.a. inner peace) is a choice that doesn't depend on externals. Beware even of the single word, "makes". That's generally a word to be used only by someone who chooses to be a spiritual slave, not by someone who chooses the self-responsiblity (a.k.a. freedom) of free-spirited happiness, grace, and inner peace.
Say, "I am happy because I am grateful," and then realize you can always be grateful and can always practice gratitude.
Asking yourself what happens to be something you are grateful for today is like asking what's on a TV that's always playing something. And it's a great question to ask because if you ask it everyday you'll get to enjoy the wonderful inner peace (a.k.a. true happiness) of gratitude everyday. That is, as opposed to futilely and desperately wishing the ever-changing movie would instead be a still picture, as the toxically attached/addicted do. They cling to what they can't keep, and it makes them miserable. Such miserable disgraceful clinginess is the opposite of gracious gratitude, but which path one takes is one's own choice and only one's own choice.
Ungrateful misery is like a dream from which the dreamer can choose to awaken anytime. And only the dreamer can make the choice. Nobody can save another.
If you want to be grateful and happy, you can be. Instantly. It's just a choice you can make anytime.
What are you grateful for today?
With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott
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In addition to having authored his book, In It Together, Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (a.k.a. Scott) runs a mentoring program, with a free option, that guarantees success. Success is guaranteed for anyone who follows the program.
)dropping wisdom as always! It's all about freeing ourselves from the chains of attachment. It's a tough practice, but realizing that inner peace comes from within, not from the things or people around us, is so liberating. Gratitude is definitely the key. It turns what we have into enough and more. It's not happiness that brings us gratitude. It's gratitude that brings us happiness. So today, I'm grateful for this reminder!
