I was chatting with someone the other day and the conversation turned to some of the goals that I’ve set and things that I wanted to happen.  After a few minutes of back and forth, the other person said, “Just let go.”  That struck me funny because I’m usually the person that says that, not the one it gets said to.  We talked a little longer and the person said that would be a good topic for a column, so here it is. This isn’t going to be a piece about religion but it is going to be a piece about beliefs.

There’s been a lot of buzz lately about the power of attraction with movies and books and gurus sharing that all you have to do in life is declare what you want and it will be yours.  I followed all the instructions, clearly defined my goals, put them in writing and spent a week on my couch in the Lotus position declaring.  Nothing happened.  Evidently along with declaring, you have to take some sort of action.  Sometimes you can take that too far, also.  Finding that balance in the middle can be a challenge.

While some folks continue to sit on the couch declaring, most of us are out doing things.  The problems come when we try too hard. The overachievers reading this will cringe when they see that, but I believe it’s the truth.  (What was I thinking?  Overachievers don’t read my columns.)  We can all easily fall into the trap of thinking we have to do it all and that we control our destiny.  We can control our actions, but we can’t control our destiny.

While there are people who challenge creation and there are many, many different beliefs, I think it’s pretty hard to make a case that all that has happened and all the wonderful things we have in life today are random.  If you’ve ever been involved in any sort of event, from a child’s birthday party to the big Corn Boils that MBNA used to have, you realize that there has to be some sort of organization.  Someone(s) need to oversee the event to ensure it doesn’t become complete chaos.  Often, we think we are those some ones and that upsets the apple cart, or the balance of nature.

This is what I believe.  There is some entity that is overlooking and guiding our lives.  Call it what you will.  I prefer to call it The Universe. That’s my explanation for why someone comes into our lives at just the time we need them.  Often we miss that person because we were so intent on looking for someone else.  Most of the time what we need is in plain sight, but we’re like horses in a horse race with our blinders on and we can’t see anything other than what we’re focused on.  So many times, I’ve wrestled and wrestled with something only to finally give up and then a solution appears.

Here’s what I would say.  State your intentions.  Write down your goals.  Declare your needs.  Work diligently on those items, but then, JUST LET GO.  It will be alright.  One of my favorite quotes is “It all works out in the end.  If it’s not working out, it just means it’s not the end.”  When you live your life like that, it takes on a different meaning.  There is a huge, huge advantage to you for following this advice.  You will not be able to take yourself too seriously.  Most of the people who are stressed out and caught in some sort of turmoil today are taking themselves way too seriously.  When you try to run everything folks, you are in over your head and The Universe or whatever will smack you for that.

For quite some time The Universe has been sending a message to a group of folks not too far from here.  I can’t tell you what the message is, but I’m certain that is very clear.  It appears that they can’t hear the message.  Some people in this group have even been replaced by other people and the new people seem to be struggling to hear the message.  Let me be clear.  I have no idea what the message is, but I am certain that it exists and it is will become very clear if people will JUST LET GO. 

This is not an editorial post.  I can only share what I see and what I believe.  Tomorrow morning the sun will come up. Life will go on.  If you JUST LET GO and look for signs, you’ll probably see them. If you keep forging ahead in your quest to change the world, it’s likely that you’ll miss the signs and continue your struggle.  As for me, I’m going to take the great advice I got and JUST LET GO. 

Bill Packard lives in Union and is the founder of BPackard.com.  He is a speaker, author, small business coach and consultant.