Letting Go and Creating Anew

How the power of release can help us find transformation

Sometimes it takes a struggle to really understand a spiritual teaching.

We find ourselves, like Jacob in the Hebrew scriptures, wrestling for a long time then declaring, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (Genesis 32:26). We want to let go. We may even need to let go, yet we can’t until we truly understand the lesson.

Sometimes the very teaching we need to grasp is that letting go is the very best thing for us.

I see in Jacob’s command a recognition that he has reached the turning point. His moment of frustration and defiance shake up the pattern he is caught in, so the energy can shift. While he won’t let go of his foe, he has let go of continuing to do the same thing. He let go so he could let go.

It would be nice if we always got the blessing before we released, but it actually works better the other way around when we engage the power of faith. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). We don’t have to keep fighting until the favor is received. Dropping the struggle is the gift itself.

Remembering That We Have a Choice

The first time I recall really understanding the power of release was years ago when I was telling my friend, a licensed Unity teacher, how irritated I was with something that didn’t work in my life. She matter-of-factly said to me, “Well, you know elimination is one of the 12 powers.”

Lightning flash. As I had never understood before, I saw that I could let it go. It literally never had occurred to me I had a choice. I don’t actually recall how the outer situation was resolved. My transformation was in the moment I realized I had the answer.

It was a rudimentary understanding of how release works, but it was a start. I know now that letting go starts with my consciousness and then moves into physical expression. I also know that I am playing a part in creating the drama I don’t like.

Life’s struggles come and go and are forgotten in time, but moments of awakening stay with us. Yet the struggle is what causes it to happen.

We don’t have to keep fighting until the favor is received. Dropping the struggle is the gift itself.

Thanks to that exchange, I was given a powerful affirmation that has become my go-to response when I notice a challenge: Well, you know elimination is one of the 12 powers.

It is just step one of resolution, but it serves to bring my observer-self online. I’m talking to myself and stating a fact, so I’ve already shifted the energy. There is love and humor in it, so I begin to soften.

Once I’ve said the affirmation, I ask myself, What do I want to create from this? This serves to move me out of victim consciousness into verity consciousness.

Let’s use this power of letting go and creating anew. Your name may not change from Jacob to Israel, but you will be mightily blessed.

From Victim to Creator

The book The Power of TED (The Empowerment Dynamic) (Polaris, 2006) by David Emerald has been invaluable to me and provides a tool to help apply Unity teachings.

TED builds on Stephen Karpman’s theory of the drama triangle. When we’re in conflict, we have created a victim, a persecutor, and a rescuer. For instance, when someone offends you, they become your persecutor. You see yourself as their victim. You then want someone to rescue you.

The antidote is to turn the triangle upside down and transform each role. Instead of a victim, you become a creator. Your persecutor is simply a challenger, and the rescuer becomes your coach. This new triangle is one that empowers you. In simple terms, when you feel bad, let go of the victim role and become a creator.

When something comes up in my life now, I see triangles. I recognize how I’ve unconsciously assigned roles. I can also see the triangles when people come to me with their struggles. As soon as I recognize it, I can help them turn it upside down by a shift of consciousness.

The ability to release the drama triangle has been life changing.