what to hold and what to let go

i've been thinking that it's really about practicing.
practicing new ways of doing old stuff. like the every day stuff.
i was talking to a friend the other day, listening to him wish for something he's really missing. he was tellin' me about how much he missed it and how he really wanted another one. after he finished his telling, i asked him how it felt to want it. he wasn't quite sure what i was asking. so i gave him 2 choices.

does it feel like this or like that? then i gave him an analogy. like when he was really wanting this dog, but was sure he'd never have him. i kept tellin' him, "you just gotta TRUST that the dog wants to be here. cuz if HE wants to be here, he will. just let go of all the reasons "why" it won't happen and trust the dog."

sure enough, within a matter of weeks, that dog was living here full time. no fuss, no muss. so we went back to that. i asked him to remember that whole experience and how he managed to shift his way of FEELING about it. and about the time he did (change how he felt) the dog was here to stay. didn't even require any effort.

so then we returned to this new thing he wants so much, and i went back to the whole thing about how it feels to want it. all of a sudden he lit up. i could tell he got it. not only did he 'get it', he was embracing it. then he went on to tell me about a book he'd read a long time ago that "changed my life".

i asked "how long ago?" he said it'd been years and years. so i suggested he read it again. it's been my experience that those kind of books, the ones that change our lives, are the ones that, when re-read, can change our lives all over again. just what i've experienced. he thought about that for a bit and then agreed that maybe it was time. my smile could NOT have been any bigger.

so, i've come to this place...of practicing. practicing those things that really do make a difference in my life. those things that feel better. those things that help me to see more clearly just how plentiful the good stuff is. the more i practice, the better i get. pretty soon, it'll be just as 'natural' as breathing. sometimes, it's as much about the letting go as it is about the allowing new stuff. cuz in the end, it's really just about how it feels. embrace the stuff that feels good, & let go of the stuff that doesn't. e-a-s-y!

what a life!