Let it go!

The Head Trash + Healing Show with Alexia Leachman

The theme for me over the last two weeks has very much been about letting go. Well, for the last 6 weeks actually!

My little ones have had a succession of illnesses which meant that they’ve taken turns at being off nursery and at home. Having them at home has meant zero work for me!

Then last week, just as I had shipped the latest ill one back into nursery, two of my websites went down. So not only was I dealing with a mountain of a backlog, but now I had an extra tonne of unplanned urgent work to add to the pile. You might know that I have another podcast as well as this one, and I was facing the real prospect of not being able to get either podcasts out the door. Thankfully, I just about managed to get my other podcast done, but this one didn’t make it. And so I had to add another thing to the Let Go pile.. my head trash show podcast!

I’ve found the last 6 weeks pretty hard to be honest… being in a forced extended period of mothering is not really my scene. Maternity leave was lovely but it wasn’t long before I was itching to get back to my work. So to find myself just a few months later, not able to do work, but instead having to play lego, or hold a poorly crying baby for hours on end, knowing that i had work that needed to be done, was pretty tough. When you have your own business that needs attention, drive and energy, just sitting about and letting it wilt can feel very stressful.

But when your kids are ill, they come first and i had to let go. I had to let go of all my expectations, let go of my need to work hard, let go of my need to be “doing work”, of being productive. Maybe I’m obsessed with being busy or doing something.

I often think that we are sent challenges because of the things we need to learn in our lives, and if we don’t get the message first time around, then the challenge comes back even bigger until we click. I can’t help but wonder that my lesson over recent months has been to SLOW DOWN and LET GO.. and perhaps trust a bit more that things are going to be OK.

So anyway, all this got me thinking…. That’s how letting go was showing up for me in my life this time around, but it can show up in many other ways.

Do you recognise any of these patterns in your life that you need to let go of?

Do you find yourself replaying conversations in your head?

We find ourselves doing this when the conversation didn’t go as we would have liked, so we play re-runs this time inserting our clever comments or come-backs that we didn’t think of at the time. Does this sound familiar? This is a classic.

Let it go! Do you have exercise plans for the week that you struggle to maintain?

… and then beat yourself up for not doing! My other half aims to go running 3 times a week. But life just gets in the way which means he can’t always do it. The thing is, when he can’t do his 3 runs, he beats himself up about it. Even when he’s ill, he beats himself up. Guess what?

Let it go! Do you get easily wound up by other drivers and then try to “get them back”?

Maybe if someone’s cut you up, or raced you off from the lights, do you find yourself, trying to race them, or cut them up back? And, are you still trying to do this 15 minutes later?

Let it go! Do you find yourself berating yourself over little accidents?

If you break something at home, whether it’s a precious item or just a regular glass or cup, do you spend the next hour beating yourself up?

With all of these situations, the mental tennis that goes on after the event is simply not helpful. Whatever has happened, has happened and can’t be changed. To quicker you’re able to accept the situation without judgement, the better.

So, how can we "let it go”?

Now, for those of you that regularly follow my podcast, you know what’s coming!

I’m going to share with you the things that you need to clear using our 5 Step Head Trash Clearance Method. If you haven’t got your copy, then grab it here > 5 Step Head Trash Clearance Method

Once you’ve got that, this is what you need to add to the Head Trash Clearance Mantras, or to put it another way, this is what you need to add to your Head Trash Clearance To Do List. (Not sure what I mean by that? Listen to this podcast episode).

This is what you need to clear:

1. Letting go 2. Acceptance, being accepting 3. Judging, being judgemental

Now, you mustn’t forget to also clear the opposite for each of these. Not sure what I mean by that? Listen to this FAQ podcast: What do you mean by "do the opposite"?

Did any of these life situations resonate with you? What areas of your life does letting go show up for you? I'd love to know how you get on with this. Let me know in the comments!