Wisdom Strategy
"Letting Go"
When I was taking belly dance lessons, my teacher told us a story about a woman she knew who had a car wreck. The woman totaled her car when she hit a telephone pole. She drove into the telephone pole because she saw in her rear view mirror that a wild-eyed ostrich was chasing her. The ostrich was running from a frantic Chihuahua dog who had taken offense when the ostrich wandered into his yard. Now, I know you are thinking: That's outrageous Elle! Just incredible! You belly dance?
Which proves my point really. People and circumstances will surprise us. Life will surprise us. Many of us recognize wisdom when we see people who stand still in the middle of confusion. Like a rock in the middle of a rushing stream, wisdom is unresisting. Sometimes when I think of "letting go" I think of not letting the things I cannot control, control me. Wisdom Maker Charlene Teters puts a different spin on "letting go." She told me, "I think 'letting go' is really about letting go of fear." Charlene put her finger on the root cause of why we have to "let go" in the first place - and why it can be such a struggle. We hang on because we are afraid of what might happen if we don't. We worry about what might happen if we rest on our watch, believing that our dark and dwelling thoughts have magical tragedy preventing power.
I am reminded by Charlene's advice that the opposite of fear is faith. Faith that the yin-yang relationship between joy and hardship hones us perfectly for a graceful life. Novelist Sens Jeter Naslund writes of the main character in the book Ahab's Wife (1999):
If you meet a woman of whatever complexion who sails through her life with strength and grace and assurance, talk to her! And what you will find is that there has been a suffering, that at some time she has left herself for hanging dead.
These words are not limited to women-they are for all of humankind seeking a wise life.
What does "letting go" mean to you? Have you been managing the root cause--which as Charlene helps us understand is fear--or just the surface symptoms? Drop me an email and let me know about your experience. I would love to hear from you: elle@wisdomout.com
Wisdom Out!
Elle
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Update on the Book "Wisdom Out"
Please visit the "Meet the Wisdom Makers" page of our web site at http://www.wisdomout.com/wisdom_makers.html to learn about the new people I have interviewed for the book, including: Charlene Teters, Wallace Howard, Bonnie Bishop, DJ Jones, Jean Deeds, Teresa McCoy, Edward Rastovski and Boo Thomas. Many Wisdom Makers also have websites you can visit to learn more about what they are doing in the world and to see how you can be involved.
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I am so excited to report that I just had three proposals accepted for presentation at the Seventh Annual International Transformative Learning Conference which will take place in Albuquerque NM on October 23-26 of this year. At the conference I will present a white paper titled: From Adversity to Wisdom: How people experience transformative learning to redeem adversity and serve a greater good. I will also facilitate a workshop where participants can make a Descansos to identify the redemptive sequence in their life. And finally, I will present a poster session where I will showcase the work of Wisdom Out and all of the Wisdom Makers. To learn more or to register to attend the conference, please visit: http://tlc2007.unm.edu/
I am also participating in the Summit of Sages Conference for Nurses in Minneapolis, MN on October 14-16. Maya Angelou will deliver the opening keynote. To learn more, please visit http://www.nursing.umn.edu/Densford/Participate/SummitSages/home.html
DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS WISE? I would LOVE to receive your nomination of a wise one, from anywhere in the world. Through these nominations of wisdom, we will all come to understand what it takes to live wisely in today's world. Please visit the nomination page at http://www.wisdomout.com/nominate.html. Although I conduct many interviews of the Wisdom Makers™ by phone, I will be in the following cities in coming months and would love to do a face-to-face interview with someone you think is wise:
June: San Francisco CA, St. Louis MO
July: Denver CO
August 30-September 3: Eugene OR, Barstow CA, Waterbury CT, Maui HI
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Wisdom Quote
"Expect nothing, live frugally on surprise."
--Alice Walker
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