Let Go…

Let go today of worrying about the stock market.

Let go also of thinking about winter coming, the weather, ice on pavements.

Let go of the fears of people driving or riding in cars, electricity going awry, burglaries, reptiles taking control of the yard, trees falling on houses.

Take a deep breath and let go of the fear of the future—of political disasters, democracy running out, of world hunger never getting solved, of world wars flaring up everywhere, of solvable situations going unsolved, of man’s inhumanity going unchecked.

Release the fears for children standing up in shopping carts, for inattentive parents turning away for just one instant, for cigarettes teetering on the brink of ashtrays, frayed wires in walls, wood about to splinter, tires worn down to nothing.

Then let go of anxieties of creeping illnesses, undiagnosable tumors and rare diseases.

Release the fear of what other people must think about you, of making mistakes of omission, of saying too much, of not saying enough, of intruding or staying away too much.

Let go of social situations running your life.

Let go of generalizations about yourself or others, of judgments, of fears about growing old.

And death. Let go today of worrying about the circumstances of your own death.

Let go of worry for the children and their lives. Have joy instead in their accomplishments, their personhoods, their embracing of life’s joys and sorrows that you cannot save them from, not ameliorate except through your faith that they can cope with whatever comes.

Let go of financial fears, that tightening of the heart strings around the prospect of desperation and emptiness.

Let go of the need to be invincible, of being everyone’s answer.

Let go of the idea that the world is a perfect place or that it can be made perfect, through more strenuous effort on your part.

Let go of anxious watching, of hard expectations.

Remember that you are not God’s East Coast manager. As the wise man John Lennon once pointed out, The world goes on within you and without you.

Stay fluid, open, and in the moment. Do what feels right instead of what feels necessary. They are often not the same thing.

Bless the world as often as you can. Bless its people instead of fearing for them. Send love and blessings to its leaders, its electrical companies, its tire manufacturers, its store clerks and hamburger flippers. Surround that oil bill with love.

The world can be a stumbling, scared, scary place to be, fraught with danger and heartache, imperiled by natural and man-made disasters, filled with surprises and shocks. But it is also a beautiful place with lots of love and tenderness, and it has always brought you everything you needed and made you strong and resilient above all.

For today, remember to breathe.