Letting Go
The reason We can't make ourselves let go is that it is not a process in and of itself, it is the result of earlier actions.
In the same way that the garden grows from our having tilled, fertilized, and watered, letting go is the fruit of awareness, acknowledgment, and acceptance.
It is within the nature of all things to move on; however, there is clinginess to the human condition that often seeks to delay this inevitability.
Imagine the ripened apple trying to resist the pull of gravity.
It would be impossible to hang on. Apples don’t have a choice.
The human dilemma is that we do, and as a result, we end up cycling through the seasons withering rather than risking renewal.
Having this realization that change comes whether we are emotionally “ready” or not. So why not willingly enter a new relationship with life?
What if we became aware of what was happening to us, acknowledged that it was an internal experience that was causing the suffering, and accepted that whatever happened or is happening could not have happened otherwise?
The answer is that when we become aware of our attachments, acknowledge that they are creating our suffering, and accept their impermanence, we find that, even in spite of the self that still feels the need to hang on, we move into a state that Thich Nhat Hanh calls Letgo. This is not a state of doing, but one of being, and in that state there is a space that surrounds our suffering, and in that space there is peace.
We often hear let go, and it sounds so easy. But what if we were able to let go of the need to let go, pay attention to what is happening now, and surrender to the things we can't control, and be present with what is happening
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What I have learned and continue to learn daily:
Reflect on all the things in life you have already let go of. Big and small.
Realize that even on a good day your conscious attention only catches a tiny fraction of what is going on
Accept small things first. The weather, a traffic jam, losing an item, etc.
Be mindful of what occupies your thought space
TBD - I am still learning, failing, and learning this process of letting go.
Emily Pola