Control and the Beauty in Letting It Go

Have you ever stacked rocks at the beach?

Here I was thinking it would make a great photo and is supposed to be all “zen” but my mood quickly changed as I became increasingly frustrated at how difficult it actually is.

As I looked for flat rocks to stack and bigger ones for the bottom etc. I soon noticed when you stack one on top, all the ones underneath started moving, twisting and often falling. It was not like stacking jenga blocks!

I took a deep breath and listened to my internal dialogue. It was saying “what rock should go next” “which ones fit together to then allow the next rock to stack on top to get this finished” and “If I hold the top one and stack them quickly maybe they will all balance”. I lay all the rocks out to evaluate them.

Then it hit me like a tonne of… rocks! This is exactly how my logical brain works. I’m constantly trying to figure out, plan, know what’s coming next and what I should be doing to make everything work out. I sometimes can see I have options, but I can also be blinded and convinced there is only one way of doing things. I’m also working on being more patient. I had a little chuckle to myself when I realised then took a deep breath and started again. This time asking which rock goes next, taking my time, breathing, then I created these!

The gift of the situation?

I have been working on myself these last few years to recognise and let go of control programs we all subconsciously run and replace them with trust. Why do we have control programs? Our ego has the job to protect us and can make you feel like you need to be in control to gain/keep love and if not, instills fear. At the beginning it is difficult to let go of control because your logical mind (or ego as we call it) wants to kick back in and resort to old patterns but on the other side, when you let go and trust, it’s so freeing! It allows space for creative flow, new opportunities and positive change.

Can you think of a moment you found yourself wanting to control a situation then surrendered to the universe? Would love to hear about it and the outcome.