As we reach the end of another year and get ready to head into a new one, lots of people can get anxious. We can feel like we didn’t get enough done. Our goals weren’t met! We aren’t the person we thought we’d be by now!

And then in the most festive time of year, we get super bummed out.

We can get lost in a race to get to some destination, acquire all the things we think will make us happy, and become someone who finally deserves love. And usually we don’t even know what makes us happy. We’re just on a kind of treadmill doing the things we think will take us “there”. Wherever that is.

That Buddha dude, about 2500 years ago, found that all of this is the source of our suffering. And that Buddha dude was onto something.

It’s not that having things is wrong, or working toward goals is bad. What makes us discontented is that we mistake these things for what we are. We misunderstand all of this to be what brings us happiness. We’re under the illusion that happiness lives outside of us and that if we do the right things, it’ll finally come to us.

Look. Right here, right now, just as you are, you deserve happiness. You deserve love. You deserve to feel free. And it’s possible to experience it no matter what is happening. Things or situations aren’t necessarily tied to that.

Letting it all just be as it is – especially letting yourself just be – can lead to more peace, more freedom, more joy. And then from that place, wowza! Life tends to flow more easily, we can intuitively sense the people and situations that truly nourish us, and we gladly receive the good that is always knocking on our door (but we’re too busy looking at our iPhones to notice).

So here’s a short, simple practice you can do anywhere to help you relax into the flow that all is well.

*With your eyes open or closed, take a deep breath in.
*Now send that exhale into the earth below you. Send a few more into the earth.
*With a soft attention to your breath, just let it all be.
*Let your busy mind do its thing as you rest with your breath.
*Let the world go by doing its thing as you rest with your breath.
*Let people be as they are as you rest with your breath.
*Count to 10 breaths. Maybe 20. Maybe more if you like.
Nothing needs to change right this moment. You don’t need to change right this moment.

Taking these “let it be” breaks will fuel you. Take as many as you like.

It’s the pause before taking action, before making decisions, before coming to any conclusions that you’re just not getting this “life” thing right.

Now I think you’re onto something!

About the Author: Sarah TAYLOR is one of Your Monthly Mentors, a meditation teacher and a Master Level Reiki Practitioner, as well as an actor, comedian, and writer based in Los Angeles, CA. Drawing from a Buddhist background as well as the other non-dual spiritual traditions, her classes and talks are accessible and filled with humor. She was a series regular for three seasons on NBC’s “In Gayle We Trust”, can be seen in the comedy feature, “The Golden Scallop” and has made appearances on Hot In Cleveland, Bunheads, and numerous other TV shows and films. Read More…

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