I think it’s something like a universal fact of life that when you finally let something go, it comes back two-fold. It seems that whenever we want something too bad the little cogs and wheels of the world halt. “Oh wait a minute, her level of wanting has exceeded the threshold, all engines shut down!” (Yeah, because that’s how I see it in my head. You can peel open the Earth and instead of molten lava and stone, you find little magical beings that work night and day to keep the machine of life spinning…yes, I may be a little crazy..)

This idea has its roots in ancient philosophy, very buddha, very zen. Letting go of attachment, of wanting, of accepting what comes and staying in the moment. The path to nirvana. Clearly, I’m not too schooled in this arena; however, I think we can agree that this is no new concept. But that doesn’t make it any less relevant or useful to remember.

Think about relationships. Whenever we grasp at a person too tightly, the natural reaction is for them to shrink away, to take a step back. The smell of desperation is a powerful odor that naturally repels. (That’s also my theory for why whenever you are in a relationship all of the men come a flocking but when you are single they are nowhere to be found..but that’s for another time.) I think Newton said it best, “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

This theory can be applied to anything in life that we want too badly. When we can accept that something is not gonna happen or will not work, then it usually somewhat suspiciously works out all at once. I find there is often a moment when things click, when things all fall together.

I don’t think it is a coincidence that when good fortune comes it usually comes in plenty and that when things fall apart, everything crumbles to pieces. Energy feeds off of itself and breeds more like energy. Imagine you wake up late, you are stressed and running around to get ready. What happens next? Of course, you spill coffee on yourself, get a speeding ticket, your boss reprimands you..bad incident after bad incident piles up. The hole keeps getting deeper. The only way to stop the cycle is to release your anger and frustration and to accept that you can’t do anything, and that eventually it will be okay. Like an internal re-boot, you refresh your system and approach the situation differently.

This re-boot isn’t as simple as clicking off a computer though. It takes faith and maturity to recognize when you have to let patience take the reins. Believing that things will change for the better (with hard work and determination thrown in of course), that things will happen when they are meant to is half the battle. Realizing that there is more than one road to your goals and dreams requires an open mind and the courage to ignore the dissenters.

But when you feel that click, that slight shift, that pressing of the button, that moment of the universe settling into place like sand to the bottom of a jar. When you hear that you got the job and a place to stay all in the same day, you realize it is all worth it and that your perseverance and willingness to let things be is what made it possible.

You can live in that beautiful, fleeting moment for a few days, basking in its glow, but be careful not to linger too long. The cogs keep turning and you have to keep pushing on, building up and letting go.