Let Go

Admitting the obvious truth - that you are not responsible to affect a change or correct a problem which is beyond your competency, power, authority or responsibility.

Releasing over-responsibility - giving permission to yourself to be free from an overresponsible sense of obligation, duty, or requirement to make everything "perfect'' in your life and the life of others.

No perfectionism - Allowing yourself to rid yourself of the perfectionistic need to control every aspect of your life so that nothing goes ``wrong'' in it.

Getting rational about what you can and cannot do - becoming realistic about what is and is not your obligation or duty to correct, change, or control.

Releasing self to "no" - allowing yourself to be able to say "no'' or "I can't'' when faced with insurmountable problems out of your reach.

Confessing faith in God- Openly declare that God, your "Higher Power" is stronger and a great source of power to whom you can hand over these things out of your control.

Accepting your powerlessness - over things and handing these things over to your Higher Power.

Handing it over to God - which is no longer taking direct action to effect a change but handing the situation over to the goodness and mercy of your Higher Power in hope that the solution will rest in the Higher Power's authority and wisdom.

Declaring God is in Charge - admitting that you can only do so much and after that it is up to your Higher Power to take over.

Realistic acceptance of loss - after fully grieving a loss admitting that there is nothing left to be done but to accept the loss and hand the loss from this point on over to your Higher Power's care and love.

Surrender: Problem solving conclusion - culmination of extensive problem solving, brainstorming, and testing alternatives with the final conclusion that you can do nothing to change the circumstances of the issue out of your reach and control and that it would be saner and more realistic to free your energy up by surrendering and letting go of the issue and handing it over to your Higher Power.

What are the negative effects of not letting go of the uncontrollables and unchangeables in life?

If you are unable to ``let go'' of the uncontrollables and unchangeables in your life, you could:

Become so obsessed with the need to solve everything on your own that you run the risk of physical and emotional exhaustion.

Never attain personal serenity and peace by accepting the human condition at work in your life.

Never establish an effective means of ``handing over'' to your Higher Power the ``too big to solve'' issues in your life and thus become bogged down in ``chasing your tail'' in these issues.

Never be at rest, always having these issues stirring up your emotional resources and energy.

Become anxious, stressed, insecure, and depressed over these issues so much that your personal effectiveness lessens at home, work, school, or in the community.

Become obsessed with these issues so much that they are the only topic of conversation or focus of attention you have in your life.

Be driven by the sense of failure, not being ``good enough,'' or guilt for not fixing the issues and become depressed and very hard in your self-assessments until you believe that you are the failure who is out of control and needing to be changed into a `"perfect,'' all powerful, infallible being.

Become competitive with your Higher Power as the source of wisdom and light in the lives of those whom you are so desperately trying to control, fix, and change.

Try to replace God by referring to yourself in terms only appropriate in describing your Higher Power because of your belief that you have the power to solve the unsolvable situations in your life. Because of this inflated ego and incapability of solving the unsolvable, your self-esteem and self-worth take a beating.

Exacerbate low self-esteem by becoming so obsessed with the sense of shame, guilt, failure, and incompetence in not being able to solve your unsolvable problems.

Loss everything of importance by making such great sacrifices to save the things beyond your control that you lose everything in your life which gave it meaning including: marriage, money, success, business, jobs, children, relationships, and even your life.

How is letting go of the uncontrollables and unchangeables a control issue?

Letting go of the uncontrollables and unchangeables in your life is a control issue because:

It de-powers the external "locus of control'' issues in your life and helps strengthen your internal "locus of control.''

Saves your sanity - unless you let go of those things over which you are powerless, you run the risk of burning out your emotional and physical energy, enthusiasm, spirit, resources, and reserves. Letting go is an act by which you release your need to control every situation, person, place, or thing in order to ensure that your sanity is not threatened.

Not a power play - instead it is an open admission that you do not need to exercise power and control over people, places, things or situations which are not amenable to such efforts.

Enhances self-control - since it frees you up to gain self-control over your own life without guilt or fear of reprisals by those people, places, or things which you have let go of.

Unhooks you - since you have not let others' intimidations, manipulation, overdependency, or helplessness "hook" you into being a "fixer," "caretaker," or "rescuer" of that which is not amenable to being fixed or helped.

Freedom from Idealism - often due to your idealism and irrational belief system about how perfect things should be that you get trapped into unhealthy efforts to solve things which are not solvable and by letting go you gain the ability to free up and focus on yourself, the one thing you can control and change.

Detachment oriented - letting go involves detaching from persons, places, or things which have had emotional "hooks'' on you and threatened your overall well-being.

Gives power back to the source of our power - by recognizing that there is a Higher Power to whom you can let go of those things which you are powerless to control or change is an act of self-control and a step towards self-healing by getting out of the power struggled with your Higher Power..

Self- Healing - through admitting that you are not omnipotent, infallible, omniscient or superhuman, you can allow yourself to take control over yourself once you let go of those things holding you down in a quicksand of non-coping, self-pity, and "sick" behaviors.

What is the irrational thinking which leads you not to let go of the uncontrollables and unchangeables in life?

How to improve letting go of the uncontrollables and unchangeables in your life

In order to let go of the uncontrollables and unchangeables in your life, you need to follow the words of the Prayer for Serenity by Reinhold Niebuhr.

God grant me the serenity

This requires that you establish a healthy spirituality and relationship with your Higher Power to whom you can let go of the uncontrollables and unchangeables in your life.

To accept the things I cannot change

You need to be realistic and rational and accept that you can change only your feelings and attitudes about things which you are powerless to change.

Courage to change the things I can

You need to accept personal responsibility for your own life, thinking, emotions, and actions. You need to take care of yourself better. You need to stop being a martyr, fixer, rescuer, advice giver, and enabler.

Wisdom to know the difference

You need to allow your Higher Power a place in your life along with correcting your unhealthy, irrational and unrealistic thinking so that you can better discern what is uncontrollable and unchangeable in your life.

Living one day at a time

You need to be patient and not want total self-change or recovery overnight. You need to let go of the need for immediate gratification.

You need to relax and smell the roses. Have fun! Tune into your inner child and enjoy life for what it is rather than for how you want it to be.

You need to recognize that you are a human. It is only by fully accepting and admitting your humanness, imperfection, and inability to control and change every person, place, or thing in your life that will you be able to achieve peace and serenity for yourself.

You need to accept that life cannot be as perfect as you would like it since every person, place, and thing is imperfect because the human condition is this way. You need to become realistic as to what is really possible in your lifetime if you are to be free of stress, anxiety, and tension.

In letting go of the uncontrollable and unchangeable people, places and things in your life, you need to hand them over to your Higher Power. You need to have a strong spiritual belief, take the risk, and have trust that your Higher Power is strong enough to handle these problems. By handing them over no answers are guaranteed, but at least you have unburdened the crushing weight of these concerns off your shoulders.

So that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next.

By letting go of the uncontrollables and unchangeables in your life you have allowed these people, places, and things to be responsible for themselves which takes a tremendous burden off you. By freeing yourself of this huge burden, you will appreciate life more for what it is. You will have the energy and strength to pursue your own interests. You will be able to relax and have fun. You will be free to pursue your spiritual life with your Higher Power now and forever.

Steps to letting go of the uncontrollables and unchangeables in life

A. What irrational thinking keeps you hooked at trying to control and/or change them?

B. What benefit do you gain from holding onto the need to control and/or change them?

C. What do you lose by holding onto the need to control and/or change them?

D. What would you lose by letting go of them?

E. What would you gain by letting go of them?

F. What keeps you stuck or hooked and prevents your letting go of them?

G. How would they react to your letting go of the need to control and/or change them?

H. How would their reaction make you feel?

I. What do you need different in your life in order to let go of them?

J. When do you expect you will be ready to let go of the need to control and/or change them?

Step 3: Once you have analyzed your relationship with each of the uncontrollables and unchangeables in your life, you need to address your belief in your Higher Power over to whom you are letting go of them. In your journal answer the following questions.

A. Who is your Higher Power?

B. How strong is your trust and belief in your Higher Power?

C. How will your Higher Power handle each of your uncontrollables and unchangeables?

D. How do you feel about the outcome of letting your Higher Power have the burden of the uncontrollables and unchangeables in your life?

E. What can your Higher Power do differently than you with these people, places, things, and situations?

F. How will these people, places, and things react to your handing them over to your Higher Power?

G. What are your plans about following up on your Higher Power and monitoring those that you have let go of?

H. How will you gain serenity and peace from letting go of your burdens to your Higher Power?

I. What will your Higher Power do for you once you let go of these pressures, tensions, and burdens?

J. How ready are you to hand over your uncontrollables and unchangeables to your Higher Power?

Step 4: Once you have accepted your Higher Power as the source of strength to whom to let go of your uncontrollables and unchangeables, then actively take each one off your shoulders and hand them over. This includes allowing the people, places, and things to be responsible for their own thinking, emotions, and actions without your interference, help, fixing, rescuing, advice giving, correction, or enabling.

Step 5: Keep letting go on a day to day basis using Reinhold Niebuhr's Prayer for Serenity as your guide.

Step 6: If you continue to have a problem letting go of the uncontrollables and unchangeables in your life, return to Step 1 and begin again.

Tools for Handling Control Issues

Letting Go of Uncontrollables and Unchangeables

What is letting go of the uncontrollables and unchangeables?

What are the negative effects of not letting go of the uncontrollables and unchangeables in life?

How is letting go of the uncontrollables and unchangeables a control issue?

What is the irrational thinking which leads you not to let go of the uncontrollables and unchangeables in life?

How to improve letting go of the uncontrollables and unchangeables in your life

Steps to letting go of the uncontrollables and unchangeables in life