Notice and Let Go

Notice: To become aware of.  To observe. To have an awareness of something you had not before. To Pay Attention To (Your Life). To detect something that is obscure or concealed.  
Let Go: To release, to intentionally quit hanging onto.

Do you realize that you rarely notice what you are feeling or doing, or why? You are just you, being you in the world, without really knowing what’s going on. Is that ok?

No one wants to go through life without realizing, noticing, what is going on, but we do that a lot. We permit outside influences to blind us when we react with old familiar and comfortable behaviors that keep us in a continuous state of being unsettled.

An addiction, including the ego addiction, numbs us so we don’t notice much. At that point, we don’t want to. That’s the whole idea. Perhaps we notice how others get in our way, or we feel afraid a lot. Maybe we notice the need to isolate and have our friend, our only “real” friend, readily available to block out everything else.

Stepping onto some kind of a spiritual path can seem difficult at times. There are so many things in a program to do, to go through, and to not do. There’s talk of growing spiritually…but HOW?  Much of it may seem to go against the grain of who you are and how you have done things all your life. Well, actually, it does…but let’s consider the following approach as a simple supplement to the work.

First, you do have to want to work with your perceptions in order to grow into a more aware and awake life. If you don’t want to, then please stay where you are.

Have you ever felt like you were on a conveyor belt, zooming through life?  Perhaps it’s time to step off and choose where you go, and know WHY you do what you do. Notice when you are hurrying through something (like reading this) to get to the next thing you have to hurry through in order to get to…. Notice what it feels like to bring your full attention and calmness to everything you do. When done, let it go and move on. 

We try putting a little energy into just NOTICING what’s going on. This doesn’t mean we have to change anything or adjust or find a new way of walking or breathing or thinking or caring for ourselves or making friends with people we don’t even like…we just notice our life and how it feels. 

Put your emotions on notice that you WILL be noticing them! They are ok, but will be noticed.

We notice when we’re feeling afraid about doing something because of what we think someone else might think of us. We don’t need to do anything different, we just notice what it feels like. 

We notice what it feels like to be engaged in a negative emotion; what it’s like to have some resentment rolling around in our head, distracting and confusing us. And then we notice what it feels like to not have that resentment, when our attention is on something else. For a little while, the resentment is gone, but then it comes back. It’s an emotion that we feed and promote, so sure–it will come back! Just like a stray cat we feed…how amazing that it comes back. We notice all of this, without judgment, and let go. Just noticing, and letting go, as opposed to actively engaging and identifying with it, will short circuit its power over us. 

When we’re engaged by emotion, we’re not noticing it, we are identifying with it. Our ego does not want us to be aware of what’s going on. It wants us to blindly follow it and engage fully in negativity, blaming others, and feeling unworthy. That is where the ego thrives. The ability to notice and let go of judgment, the act of opening, up is essential. It is an act of permitting the spiritual nature and connection that supports all life to flow into and out from us.

We notice that we may walk around with a subtle sense of unease. Much of our day may consist of an unnamed, indistinct, negative feeling that we continue to nurture by engaging it all the time. We notice that, breathe, relax our shoulders, and smile a bit.  What does it feel like to feel good? Let’s try promoting that instead. We notice when we feel more balanced and at peace. We notice how making the small effort of noticing feels.

We notice when we realize we’re waiting for “things” to start coming our way, and how we’ll feel good when they do. We notice we’ve had that thought all our life.

We notice what it feels like to mourn or feel sorrow for someone.  It is an emotion that we need to experience and work through–but not overwhelm us. When someone dies or is sick, we need to feel sorrow. We can also remember all the joy and fullness they have brought to life, and celebrate that that is now a precious part of who we are, because of them. We notice the importance of caring for others while they (and you) are still here.

We notice when we keep looking for what is wrong and how that feels—and negatively impacts—all we do. We notice when we keep looking for ways to appreciate life, and how that feels.

We notice when we’re making excuses for not doing something, even before we haven’t done it!

We notice when we have the awareness to consciously take a breath, and express gentleness and patience instead of irritation. How does that feel? We notice when we don’t do that, and it is ok. We notice what it feels like to not have to be perfect. We also notice when we begin to see some humor in all of that.

We notice when we’re manipulating someone or lying, when we’re fixated on someone as an object, and alternately what it feels like to see them as a complete person that we respect. We notice how that also brings a feeling of respect for ourselves.

We notice that we want to notice what our life is all about. We may believe, ‘if I don’t look at it, maybe it isn’t there.’  That philosophy doesn’t work any better for life than it does for a bus about to hit you.

We do have to begin making the effort to just notice. It’s a new behavior, and meditation helps. In meditation, we notice when we’re thinking (it’s fine), and we notice bringing our attention back to the breath. We notice the calmness there, even if only for a few seconds. We are beginning to use, to hone, our Noticing Ability. We have an amazing ability to notice, to see clearly, but it can be scary to take the blinders off. We just notice that also. We notice how we miss the circus in our head. We notice what the calmness brings.

We notice that we begin to have choices, and we begin to make healthier ones because we like ourselves. How very nice. We do want to get off the conveyor belt. We want to notice what it feels like to walk on our own with dignity, and with others in our life. We notice that we have difficult times, and that is ok.

We notice that at our core there is a basic goodness that comes through when we merely notice what we’re doing. A goodness that gently guides … if we take notice of it.

We notice what it is like to share with our partner or a friend what we have noticed about ourselves during the day. “We continued to take personal inventory…and practice these principles in all our affairs.” Paraphrased from Alcoholics Anonymous

Our addiction is an END. But there is no end beginnings, when we are noticing and letting go of life. We let go, because there is another moment awaiting us. We notice fully what’s there next. Now. And now. And now.

How do you fill your bucket? One drop at a time
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step
The great arises out of small things that are noticed and cared for
Heart Of Recovery web site  –  fcheartofrecovery.com