There's the saying to "let go and let God", which is what people often evoke during a crisis -- in other words, after all other human avenues have been exhausted, to no avail. In my experience, life tends to work better when one "let's go" before things ever get so stressful.
There was a man who had once been a financial planner who had seen many people "hit bottom" before they were able to start to slowly climb back to financial health. He asked why they always had to hit bottom before things could get better; why couldn't they just lose part of their wealth before the momentum reversed direction? Why did they have to "lose it all"?
The answer given was because human beings have a tendency to feel the need to struggle through to the bitter end. As a society, we glorify the fight, the will to succeed. So, when people who have done very well, suddenly aren't, they struggle, struggle, struggle to stop from financially falling, and all the struggle and associated fear does is keep the momentum of loss going. Only after they "give up" in a sense, because they no longer know what further action to take, do things start to turn and get better.
I live in one of the wealthiest counties in the country, by median family income. So, my area was hit all the harder by the recession that started in 2008 from the stock market crash. People in the social services sector said that the biggest mistake people made is waiting too long to ask for help. They would wait until the house was in foreclosure before finally admitting that they didn't have any money to buy groceries for their family. Whereas, if they had asked for help earlier, they might have been able to save their house. But many are determined to "hit bottom" before they dare "let go" and ask for the help that is available.
I have a little bit of experience with the idea of "letting go" before reaching the bottom. I was nearly three months behind on the mortgage, and thinking that I'd better start figuring out what me and my three dogs were going to do if we needed another place to live. And then I realized I was putting a lot of thought into the very thing I didn't want to happen. How much sense did that make? None. If I lost my house, things would work out. They always did. In the meantime, why not think about the future I wanted to happen? So, I Decided that I was just going to pay what I could on the mortgage, and in a few months my busy season for my bookkeeping business would begin, and I should be able to catch up.
That's exactly what happened. I didn't need to hit bottom during the worst financial crisis of my life. I was able to keep my house, and things gradually got better from there in the ensuing years. I "let go" of the worry. I did not foresee disaster. Whatever happened was going to happen, and the best I could do was give thought to the future I hoped for, rather than the one I dreaded.
As a result of that direct experience, I "let go" pretty much out of habit, of even very mundane things. I want this to happen, I wish that would happen. I put the thought out there, and then go on with my day. The universe will do with it what it will. The best thing I can do is not get in its way as it gathers the components to make things work out for me. It's the path of least resistance. And life is wonderfully easy and carefree when "Let go and let God" is activated not only when there's a stressful crisis, but instead is a way of life.
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