There comes a time, in every relationship and journey where all the work is doing, all the trying is done, all the effort has been made – and they only choice we have is to let go.

It’s been said before: we are human BEINGS, not human DOINGS. And the more I step outside my little bubble of the TDL writing room and meet people, and see people, and feel people and hear people, the more I see that there is a collective story that if we can just get it right, that we will be enough, and when we are enough, we will FINALLY get the love, significance and joy that we want so much.

But that just ain’t how it is.

It seems that so many of us are living life in as an IF, THEN statement. IF I get X, THEN I’ll be happy. IF I get Y, THEN I’ll be at peace. IF I get Z, then I’ll be free.

We chase symbols to get experiences. But that’s not the best way to do it. We must begin to aim at the experiences we are wanting, and let the circumstances follow.

We think we know so much, but we really don’t. For all the technology and sophistication of our world, tell me why there is so much poverty, suffering and unnecessary death on the planet?

We are smart, but we are not wise. And it is only through WISDOM that we will come to find the happiness that we seek.

One of the things that is SO clear to me these days is that what we think will bring us happiness OUT THERE is actually something we are looking for IN HERE. No amount of money or success leads to sustained happiness. SURE, you might be happy for a while, but true happiness comes from connection, and the only way we can get real connection with each other is honesty. Honesty about how we are feeling, thinking and ACTUALLY doing.

Honesty about our hurts, about our shadows, about our wounds. And also honesty about our joy, our Love and our major aliveness.

We hide for no reason, really. We hide because we think that if how we are truly feeling or being is exposed, we will die. But that’s not the truth.

When we expose ourselves, when we show ourselves, when we let our true selves been seen, we set ourselves free. And we also set others free to be their true, authentic, broken yet perfect selves.

What we crave is connection, to be valued, to be cherished and to have the certainty that we are enough to be loved. These are simple desires that we make so complicated and so out of reach that we are literally killing ourselves to achieve something that is actually impossible. Perfection is unknowable and unachievable. But the truth of who we are and how we feel is available in any moment. And by telling that truth, we set ourselves free and begin to allow others to do so as well.

So my truth today is that I happy and I am sad. I am happy because my life is becoming my dreams, I am sad because my old friend and I have not been friends for a few years and all I want to do is share these moments with him. But that’s not in the cards right now. I want to share the happiness, the joy and the success and all the crazy stories of how I messed up. And that’s just not possible.

So I am grateful and I am also in mourning. It’s such a weird and beautiful feeling to be here. Life loves us and supports us. And when we accept that, we can let go and let Life live us, perfectly, wherever we are at.

Love,

Mastin

– – –

Reposted from Thedailylove.com