OMG Digital Magazine OMG Issue 302 29th March 2017 | Page 6

OMG Digital Magazine | 302 | Thursday 29 March 2018 • PAGE 6
What Oprah Knows For
Sure About
Letting Go
By Oprah Winfrey
I've mastered the art of letting go so well, I
forget to be angry. Ask anyone who really
knows me, and they will confirm: I don't hold
grudges very long.
I learn the lesson, yes (this person cannot
be trusted—or is toxic, dangerous, rude,
whatever), but the grinding replay of what
was done or said, looping over and over in
my head, I let go.
For me, it comes from years of practice. And
from listening, over th e decades, to thousands
of stories from people who couldn't release
the past and got stuck in it. For sure, that's one
of the great tragedies of human behavior I've
witnessed: seeing grown men and women
who can't stop playing the mind tape from an
event that happened days, weeks, sometimes
years ago.
What a loss of precious time and energy,
being a prisoner by your own hand, laden
with the burdens of the past.
Eckhart Tolle speaks beautifully of this in his
book A New Earth, when he shares the story
of two Zen monks:
Tanzan and Ekido...were walking along a
country road that had become extremely
muddy after heavy rains. Near a village, they
came upon a young woman who was trying
to cross the road, but the mud was so deep,
it would have ruined the silk kimono she was
wearing. Tanzan at once picked her up and
carried her to the other side.
The monks walked on in silence. Five hours
later, as they were approaching the lodging
temple, Ekido couldn't restrain himself any
longer. "Why did you carry that girl across the
road?" he asked. "We monks are not supposed
to do things like that."
"I put the girl down hours ago," said Tanzan.
"Are you still carrying her?"
That's reality for so many people. Maybe
you're one of them, holding on to what
happened or what you think should have
happened.
But I ask you: For what purpose? To feel right?
Righteous? Justified? Validated?
Proving I was right used to be a major
character flaw. I had to do some conscious
work to change it.
A single question got me started: Do you want
to be right, or do you want peace? Those 11
words released me years ago and put me on
the path to freedom.
Whatever your reason for holding on to
resentments, I know this for sure: There is
none worth the price you pay in lost time.
Time you could have given yourself to love
and live more fully. Time you can never make
up.
The time is now. Let go!