Let Go & Own Your Power: LET GO, #1

By Natalia Stando and Agata Skawińska

"LET GO" is an invitation to discover that you are already whole, perfect in your essence, exactly as you are now. It's a book about liberation – about shedding everything that doesn't serve your true self, everything that isn't yours, to unleash your true potential. Often, it's only our beliefs about what's possible that hold us back. You can transcend those barriers inhibiting you today and start walking the path towards fulfillment and happiness.

 

Each of us possesses extraordinary power, but only a few are aware of its existence and know how to harness it. It's a bit like having a skill we're unaware of – we could go through life never realizing we can fly. Your goal is to uncover this secret and unlock these hidden abilities. Then you'll realize that creating the life you dream of isn't magic reserved for the chosen few. Unleash your power and start shaping the life you desire!

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Natalia Stando
• Release date: Mar 20, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224481101

Book preview

Introduction

Welcome, adventurous soul! You're about to embark on an incredible journey to the most mysterious place you'll ever explore – yourself. Let the insights on these pages light your way, like a compass guiding you to a deeper self-understanding, revealing the true you, and teaching you how to craft the life you live with intention. Get ready to uncover wonders within and learn to shape your world with joy and purpose.

Each of us has an extraordinary power within, but only a few are aware of its existence and know how to use it. It's a bit like having an ability we have no idea about – we can spend our entire lives walking on earth, not realizing that we are capable of flying. Your goal is to uncover this secret and unlock these hidden abilities. Then you will see that creating the life you dream of isn't magic reserved for a select few. It's something within your reach. The time is now. Think of yourself as an artist, with life as your canvas, ready to be filled with the most vibrant and breathtaking scenes. It's often our own doubts about what's possible that hold us back. Today, you have the power to break through those barriers, stepping onto a path that leads to joy and fulfillment. Remember, every epic tale begins with a single step. This very moment—reading these words—could be where you start to believe in the achievable, transforming your dreams into reality. This journey might have its ups and downs, but it's also filled with happiness, new discoveries, and endless potential. If you're ready, let's embark on this adventure together. LET GO is your invitation to realize you are already complete, perfect in your being, right at this moment. Here and now! This book guides you toward freedom—shedding all that doesn't align with your true essence to unleash your full potential. Michelangelo once said his job wasn't to create the statue but to reveal it by removing the excess stone. Similarly, LET GO prompts you to find yourself not by adding more to your life, but by releasing the burdens that have weighed you down—letting go of old beliefs, fears, and expectations that cloud your true self. It's about recognizing that everything you need for happiness and wholeness is already within you. It's not about changing who you are to fit the world's view but understanding that freedom, joy, and fulfillment come from letting go of limitations.

This is not an easy path. Letting go requires courage to face our fears head-on, to meet them and see the truth about ourselves. It demands that we pause for a moment and consider what is truly ours and what we have adopted from others – from family, society, culture. What are our genuine desires, and what is merely a reflection of others' expectations. LET GO is an invitation to this inner journey and rediscovering yourself anew, to consciously choose what we want to keep in our lives and what is ready to be released. This process does not end on the last page of this book – it's a continual discovery, full of challenges, but also extraordinary discoveries. In this journey, you will learn who you are, how to let go gently, how to accept yourself and your life, how to live more authentically. Because the truth is, when you allow yourself to be real, when you put aside the burdens that are not yours, you will discover not only yourself but also an infinite space of possibilities that has always been within you. I invite you to this journey. I do not promise that it will be easy, but I promise it will be worth it. LET GO is not just a book; it's the beginning of something new – your new, fuller life.

I would like to emphasize that the terms I use such as God, Universe, and Highest intelligence are used interchangeably and aim to express the same universal force. Regardless of the words we use, it's about referring to an all-encompassing, limitless power that permeates everything that exists. These different names are intended to reflect the diversity of perspectives and spiritual experiences, while underscoring that at their core lies the same essence of universal love and wisdom that guides, inspires, and connects us.

Chapter 1. Leave your Past Behind

Lightening the mind from the weight of the past opens us up to the marvels of the present. - Deepak Chopra-

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Hello, Traveller! Welcome to the first chapter of our journey, where we immediately come face to face with baggage. No, not the suitcase you lugged on holiday and still haven't unpacked (although, that too could be an issue). I'm referring to the emotional baggage that you've been toting around, making your journey exhausting. These are the what-ifs and if onlys that hover around us like specters from days past. This baggage resides deep within our soul, often concealed like a relic of yore - a quiet companion in our daily lives. Its presence frequently goes unnoticed, and its weight unfelt, until we choose to halt and ponder its existence. Grasping how and why this baggage comes into being is key in our quest to rid ourselves of it. You know what? The past and the future are really just constructs in our heads. A bit like those fairy tales that were read to us at bedtime. Time flows relentlessly, and we truly live in the constant here and now. This is where we create our lives, paint our pictures, write our stories. Not in the past, which is like an old VHS tape, nor in the future, which is like a movie that hasn't been filmed yet. Imagine that every negative emotion, every unresolved feeling, every unprocessed conflict is a stone. Over time, these stones accumulate in our internal backpack. Some of them are small, barely noticeable, others - heavy and sharp. Initially, carrying this backpack seems easy, almost imperceptible. However, over time, the weight grows, and our steps become more and more labored.

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Where does this baggage come from?

The first step is understanding how this baggage comes into being. Each of us has our own story, our experiences that shape our view of the world. Imagine that your life is a journey through a complex network of emotions and experiences. Every step you take, every encounter, every word – all of it affects your inner world, creating emotional baggage that you carry with you. Every difficult emotion, every unexpressed feeling, is like another stone in our backpack. But how exactly does this baggage form? We embark on a fascinating journey through the nooks and crannies of the human mind to uncover this mystery.

Begin the Adventure - Magical Childhood: Imagine that every day of your childhood is a scene from a fairy tale, where each character, each scene, influences your inner world. Your parents are like wizards, and your siblings like cunning elves. Every compliment is golden dust, and every anger - a dark cloud. These early days are the foundation on which you build your emotional castle. From the first moments of our lives, every experience, every interaction shapes us in a unique way. In the early years, when our brains are like sponges absorbing every stimulus, our personality, our beliefs, and even the way we will respond to the world in adult life are being formed.

Let's imagine life as an incredible journey, where the first seven years are nothing but the construction of the foundations of our mind. Yes, it is precisely in this short, yet intense period of our childhood that what we become as adults is shaped. It's like sculpting a delicate statue, where every touch, every word, and experience, leaves a lasting mark on our psyche. Until the seventh year of life, the child's mind is like soft clay, shaped by every smile, tear, word, and gesture. At this stage of life, children quickly learn new things, absorbing knowledge and experiences like a sponge absorbs water. In the first years of life, every experience, gesture, word, or emotion that a child observes and experiences contributes to the development of their personality. During this period, aspects such as the ability to cope with stress, reactions to difficulties, the ability to form relationships with others, a sense of security, and many other character traits are formed. In this crucial period, two main groups of people have a significant impact on us: parents and teachers. They are our first guides, mentors, and role models. Through their words, actions, and even unspoken emotions, our future behaviors, values, and the way we perceive ourselves and the reality around us are shaped.

Parents are our initial role models and authority. They introduce us to the world, teach basic skills, rules, and values. In the first years of life, parents continuously shape our future personality through their behaviors, reactions, and interactions. Children who grow up in an environment full of love, acceptance, and support often develop a strong sense of self-worth and confidence. On the other hand, constant criticism, lack of empathy, or neglect can lead to low self-esteem and emotional problems in adult life.

Teachers, with their unique position in a child's life, play a crucial role in sparking intellectual curiosity, guiding interests, and shaping a positive approach to learning and overcoming challenges. They help children navigate the complexities of social interactions and encourage a lifelong love of discovery. Children naturally believe what their parents and teachers tell them. This blind faith is a natural part of development, as children do not yet have developed critical thinking skills. Children start to form an internal view of themselves and the world based on what they hear and how they are treated, which can significantly influence their future lives.Therefore, the responsibility of parents and teachers is immense, as what they convey their kids in these early years can become the foundation of their future happiness, emotional health, and success. Life is full of events that seem to be just fragments of our daily existence. However, some of these events have the power to deeply affect us, sometimes creating trauma that we are often not even aware of. How is it that seemingly ordinary moments can become sources of hidden trauma? Trauma often arises in moments of intense stress, fear, loss, or violence. These are events that go beyond our daily experiences and evoke strong emotions. The key moment is how we process these difficult times. When an experience is too overwhelming, our mind may not be able to fully process it. That's when trauma begins to germinate in hiding. These events create the biggest and heaviest stones that we later carry with us in our already too heavy backpack. Often we just create internal barriers that protect us from pain but at the same time make it difficult to fully process the experience and release its burden. Unprocessed trauma can manifest in various ways – through anxieties, phobias, trust issues, relationship difficulties, or even chronic stress. It can also manifest through physical symptoms, where the body responds to unprocessed emotions. We frequently refuse to acknowledge that a specific event had such a profound effect on us.Trauma, although often hidden, is a strong factor shaping our lives. Keep in mind that every experience, including those that bring pain, is a chapter in the story of our lives and, at some point, may have served a necessary purpose. Yet, there comes a moment when you're ready to turn the page, set those experiences gently aside, and step forward into a new chapter filled with hope and new possibilities. This act of moving on isn't just about leaving something behind; it's a powerful statement of growth and resilience, a testament to your ability to embrace the future with open arms and an open heart. Every new relationship, meeting, every loss are moments creating experiences that shape who you are. In our life's journey, relationships with other people serve as milestones, influence us and add layers to our personal baggage of experiences. Every interaction, every relationship affects us in some way, whether it's a fleeting encounter or a long-lasting bond. These experiences become part of us, shaping our perception of the world, our reactions, beliefs, and behaviors.

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Turn on the light of awareness

The first step to freeing yourself from this burden is to acknowledge that you're carrying it in the first place. It's similar to navigating in a dark room. You can feel the presence of objects, but until you turn on the light, you won't know what's really there. Darkness is nothing but the absence of light – similarly, ignorance of our emotional baggage is simply a lack of awareness. We often live with the belief that our problems are an integral part of ourselves, forgetting that there was a time we lived without them. Understanding that emotional baggage is not our identity, but rather something that has clung to us over time, is a moment of awakening. Once you illuminate these dark corners, you'll see your emotional baggage in full light. It may turn out that some of these emotions and memories are not as scary as they seemed. And others, though difficult, are an important part of your journey. Realizing what you carry with you is the first step to understanding, acceptance, and eventually freeing yourself from this baggage. We often stick to our past because it seems to define who we are. But it's a bit like still wearing clothes you no longer like, just because they were once your favorites. The past is part of you but does not have to be your burden. Putting the baggage beside you and allowing yourself a moment of rest is a step towards freedom. Now close your eyes and imagine the baggage you constantly carry on your back. Every experience, every joy, every pain – all packed into one big suitcase that you carry on your shoulders through life. Isn't it heavy? Do you really need to keep carrying this baggage? What would happen if you just put it beside you, instead of constantly struggling under its weight? Inside each of us is a place where we can find peace. It's a space where we can rest, where there's no burden of the past or fear of the future. It's a place where we can just be ourselves, without judgments and expectations. Finding this place is like discovering an oasis in the middle of the desert – it gives strength to continue and the wisdom to choose the path that's best for us. The key to freeing yourself from emotional baggage is understanding that at any moment you have the power to put it aside. Just as we decided to pick it up, we can also decide to leave it behind. It may require time, self-work, and sometimes support from others, but it is possible. Imagine setting down your backpack on the ground, step by step walking away from it, feeling the weight lift from your shoulders, gaining a new lightness of being. Every journey within ourselves demands courage—to confront our emotions, memories, fears, and hopes.  There are many ways to turn on this inner lamp, to illuminate the dark corners of the mind. It could be therapy, meditation, journaling, conversations with loved ones, or even art and creativity. Each method acts as a key, unlocking deeper self-understanding. This is a journey we walk slowly, often hesitantly. But every step forward is a step towards greater freedom. Every realization that the stone we carry is not part of us but merely an experience that can be transformed and released opens us to new possibilities. Sometimes, on this journey, we discover that some stones are too deeply rooted to simply put aside. In those moments, it's most important not to be too harsh on ourselves. Understanding that every change requires time and patience is as important as the change itself. Here, in this space of acceptance and understanding, true liberation begins. This is a journey that never ends, but every moment of awareness, every realization that we can choose what we carry, brings us deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us. This is the magic of life - continuous discovery, learning, and evolving, and the emotional baggage that once seemed like our burden becomes our teacher. It's like a journey through the night to the sunrise. Darkness may be deep, but light always follows. After the storm, the sun always comes out. So be bold!  Illuminate every corner until your emotional burdens are fully exposed, ready to be released. Every stage, every obstacle, every joy are steps on the path to understanding who you really are. Don't be afraid of this journey. Enjoy it! Let every step be a dance, and every tear - the music of your soul. After all, this is your script, your story, your life. So dance, laugh, and cry, but above all - live!

Take off this burden

The true hero is one who has freed themselves from the burden of the past and directs their mind towards a better tomorrow.

-Nelson