Written by Edgar Luna

Once a day, I usually try to take a few minutes of my time and go for  a walk after lunch,  to use some time to  clear my mind of whatever I am working on and just go through a quick reset.

A few days ago as I was walking and listening to music I noticed that it was a windy day, it was not uncomfortable, however you could see and feel that there was a lot of movement through the environment.

It was cloudy and the temperature was very comfortable for a walk outside. Visually you could see the trees and grass moving, some dry leaves on the pavement moving in certain patterns that I am sure no one would be able to predict. I could feel the wind on my body even though I could not see it, I know it exists.

As I was walking I saw right in front this little thing flying towards me, something very small and could note make out what it was , as it got closer I could see the color which was  green and as it was a few feet over my head I could tell it was a piece of a leaf.

I extended my hand , facing my palm up, wondering if this flying object would land on my extended palm, trying to make a game out of it. If you think of it there was a lot going on. The wind was blowing with no set direction, I was moving forward and the piece of leaf was flying towards me but yet without any additional effort the little piece of leaf softly landed on my extended palm. Just like a spaceship landing on the moon.

I looked at it and as I analyzed it for a few seconds and had the thought to throw it away, I realized and said to myself:

“What a random event”

What are the chances that a piece of leaf flies directly to me,  I notice it, then extend my hand and it lands on my palm, all this happening while I am just walking?

Even though it is something trivial and maybe meaningless, It got me thinking about how random events in life can impact us.

How many of you make a great effort to  try to control everything around you, and regardless of how hard you try,  there will be certain things that you will never be able to control or predict.

How do you feel when you are not in control of a certain situation or event?

There are certain things we can do to prepare us for the future, however we also need to be aware and acknowledge that there will be certain things that are beyond our control and that we need to find some sort of peace within the randomness of life.

There is no question that during our life  there will be impactful situations or events that we will not see coming and that those events will test and make us feel vulnerable. Whatever that situation is, we have the choice to try to control it and hold on to those uncomfortable feelings or let go and allow that event to pass.

Acknowledging that the event has an impact on us and learning to let go of those feelings and  experiencing the  moment for what it is, being present, will help you learn from it and use that knowledge you gained to use in the future, taking it as a learning opportunity for growth.

As humans we tend to hold on to things, some of them might be visible like material things which trigger emotions in us or invisible such as the thoughts that generate certain emotions. The effort of holding on to those thoughts that might give us a certain desired emotion makes us expend  tremendous amounts of energy. I would compare it to hanging on from a 10 story build’s  ledge while trying to hold  a 100 lb weight. Eventually we need to let go to allow us to climb back up, or keep holding on and let the weight take us down.

Instead of holding on to that emotion, you need to learn how to let go, maybe that means  forgiving yourself for a mistake you committed and you just don’t want to let it go because you do not feel worthy of forgiving yourself. 

There will be many random things that will happen to you some of them insignificant and some that will be more significant, whatever happens, experience the event, learn from it and practice the skill of letting go and learn to deal with the “randomness of life”

E.Luna.