Day 222: What Are You Ready to Release?
222 is one of the numbers that are viewed as signs from the Universe, like 11:11, which I see frequently on my phone or microwave.
To me it's a reminder of the Universe having my back. Do you have any special things that are that kind of reminder for you?
The affirmation I read this morning from Louise Hay was, "I now choose to release all hurt and resentment."
And I immediately felt my body let out a sigh of relief and my shoulders drop.
Open the door to the dark room in your mind where all the hurt and resentment has been stockpiled, and let it out, just let it go.
You don't have to sort every box in the room before you open the door. Start with one thing.
Send it on its way and let it know you don't need it anymore. You're moving on without that weight.
What a great feeling that is.
I'm not saying that if you say this one time all the hurt and resentment will be gone, although it's possible, if you're that clear.
That's the thing about decisions. They feel easy or hard depending on the beliefs underneath them.
I just realized that as I checked in with myself, it felt like that was too big to just decide and have all hurt and resentment gone.
But why not?
When I stopped eating meat, I remember closing the cover of Diet for a New America by John Robbins on my flight to Hong Kong for my 34th birthday.
As I closed the cover and put my tray table up, I thought to myself, "That's it. I'm done eating meat. I'll have one last meal for my birthday and then it's over."
And it was. I have never looked back and it's been 36 years.
But, my decision wasn't just based on that book, although it could have been.
I had been moving in that direction for about 2 years, dropping one meat after another.
It had started with an article I read in Rolling Stone magazine about how veal calves were raised.
I cried and cried and cried, and never ate veal again, even though it had been my favorite.
How did a girl from Wisconsin not know how we got our meat? I never knew anyone who lived on a farm.
Once I knew, I couldn't be part of it. And I went down the rabbit hole with all the other meats, and then started reading about the health issues meat contributed to.
So, I did quit veal instantly. But the bigger thing of not eating any meat took more time to change my beliefs that would allow a permanent shift.
For you, that affirmation could trigger something like the veal or the book did for me. It could be the only trigger you need to let the hurt and resentment go. Or it could lead you to look more closely and what holding on to it is costing you, and that could be what leads you to let it go, little by little.
There is no size of decision rule. It's not that major decisions need more time or more effort.
Sometimes what looks like a huge decision from the outside happens in one clear moment.
And sometimes what sounds simple takes years because there are layers of beliefs wrapped around it.
It all comes down to our values and beliefs.
For me, finding out about how we get veal, was just too much.
After that, there was a battle between a few different factors that had to resolve themselves before I stopped eating all meat.
I couldn't unknow where my food came from and how it got to me. But I still needed to eat. I wasn't a fan of vegetables. What would I eat? Just pasta?
There are a lot of factors. Our lives and our beliefs are complex.
You may have to pull out some old hurts and resentments and unwind them. See if you feel like you're betraying yourself or someone else if you let it go. Or has it been so long that you really don't even remember why you've carried it all these years?
And for each one you let go, it helps you to be clear on what you no longer want to carry, and also what you do want to come into your life.
It helps you to refocus on what you want and what you value.
Because when you stop using your energy to hold the old pain in place, that same energy becomes available for something else.
Peace, clarity, love, freedom.
Maybe even the feeling that the Universe really does have your back.
Today's Gentle Practice
Think about one hurt or resentment you may still be carrying.
Ask yourself:
What is this costing me to keep carrying?
You don't have to force yourself to release all of it today.
Just open the door a little and notice whether some part of you is ready to stop holding it so tightly.
Then choose one feeling you would like to make room for instead.
With you,
Lynn
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