Unlearning – letting go of ideas we’ve tightly held

The Principle

Letting go of ideas that we’ve held tightly, out of fear or habit, is painful but necessary in leaving faith.

The Practice

Try this experiment. Close a fist and hold it as tight as you can for two minutes. Every time you feel yourself letting up, squeeze harder.

Now, slowly open your hand. Does it hurt? That is how your soul and mind feel when you’ve held onto ideas tightly for many years, being afraid to let go of them.

As part of letting go of old ideas, we must undergo the process of letting go of what we’ve believed, and we must understand that it may be painful. But that’s normal!

Practice saying this to yourself – “it’s OK not to know, for now. It’s OK, and things will be stable and sure again.”

The Impact

It takes courage to let go of ideas that are right in order to purge the wrong out with them. But it allows you to start from scratch. “What do I know for sure?” Maybe not much! But that’s OK. In time, you can rebuild your thoughts and life.