Gaining Freedom by Letting Go of Your Expectations, Assumptions, & Beliefs

I was reflecting last night upon a discussion I had with someone on Reddit the other day and it made realize something I had realized a while back but completely forgot about.

I think what people are really looking for in life, in terms of the problems that they’re experiencing, is a sense of freedom.

It’s like they feel like the reality of the world around them is pushing in on them and crushing them. So they’re trying to get break free from that.

The problem with this perspective though is that the default reaction to it is often striving to control others and the world, rather than feeling like you’re being controlled by others and the world.

If the person is a bit evolved though, instead of reacting, they may respond by focusing on controlling themselves and their response to what is occurring to them.

What I’m realizing in my life now is that it’s not about trying to control yourself, the world, or others, it’s about completely letting go.

So what, just let others and the world control and crush you?

No, not at all. Let go of the illusion that you’re being controlled at all which often arises from the societal expectations you’ve been programmed to believe that you need to fulfill as a part of a larger social contract.

For example, a lot of people prior to the pandemic, just accepted the way things were in terms of the concept of work. When the pandemic arrived though and it made people completely question their assumptions and beliefs about work (because there was a potential that they could die for their work), it made them completely let go of those previous expectations, beliefs, and assumptions, freeing them to work in completely new way.

Again, they didn’t let go and just accept their fate. They let go of the expectation, assumption, and belief that that was their fate.

This is what I had a difficult time trying to communicate to this person on Reddit. I think they believed I was telling them to just accept their fate. But I wasn’t.

This is why this deeper work is so paradoxical, difficult to understand, and easy to misinterpret the meaning of it, based upon where you are perceiving it from your perspective.

Actually this is poignant as well. The level of consciousness just one step beyond that of a typical “conventional” adult often seeks “freedom, autonomy, accountability, adaptability, courage, and personal growth.” This is what it is called to “individuate” and it causes a “transformation” in the way you look at your world and yourself…because you begin a quest in questioning your expectations, assumptions, and beliefs and thus learn how to let them go.

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