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Stillness in the Storms · March 6 · 20 min

When Letting Go Feels Impossible, Try This Instead

What if letting go is the wrong instruction? Every time somebody says it, your mind grips the thing tighter. In 1992 I sat with a manual wheelchair I could barely move, triceps paralysed, hands paralysed, and I spent days trying to prove I was not disabled. The moment I accepted it, everything changed. Telling your body to forget something it built to protect you is a losing argument. It is quicksand. The more you struggle the deeper you go. So swap the word. Acceptance is not passive. It is the only thing that actually loosens the grip. One thing to try: Find a quiet moment and say the true thing out loud. This is how it is. Then stop there. In this episode (1:40) 1992, and a chair I could not push (3:57) How determined I was not to be disabled (5:04) The version of me I was trying to live up to (7:53) Say let go, and the mind grips harder (9:05) You are telling the body to forget its own protection (10:16) Quicksand. The more you struggle, the deeper (12:41) The butterfly on an open hand (15:27) We are all in a wheelchair of some kind (19:08) Freedom is not letting go. Freedom is acceptance With gratitude to Ruth, Nina and Ray, Skila, Cheryl, Krysia, Penny, Jenna and Mia, Angie, Sean and Stefan Support the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.uk Thank you for listening. Steven Links to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work. Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.uk Steven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk

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transcript

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show notes

What if letting go is the wrong instruction? Every time somebody says it, your mind grips the thing tighter.

In 1992 I sat with a manual wheelchair I could barely move, triceps paralysed, hands paralysed, and I spent days trying to prove I was not disabled. The moment I accepted it, everything changed. Telling your body to forget something it built to protect you is a losing argument. It is quicksand. The more you struggle the deeper you go. So swap the word. Acceptance is not passive. It is the only thing that actually loosens the grip.

One thing to try: Find a quiet moment and say the true thing out loud. This is how it is. Then stop there.

In this episode

  • (1:40) 1992, and a chair I could not push
  • (3:57) How determined I was not to be disabled
  • (5:04) The version of me I was trying to live up to
  • (7:53) Say let go, and the mind grips harder
  • (9:05) You are telling the body to forget its own protection
  • (10:16) Quicksand. The more you struggle, the deeper
  • (12:41) The butterfly on an open hand
  • (15:27) We are all in a wheelchair of some kind
  • (19:08) Freedom is not letting go. Freedom is acceptance

With gratitude to

Ruth, Nina and Ray, Skila, Cheryl, Krysia, Penny, Jenna and Mia, Angie, Sean and Stefan

Support the podcast and join the Weekly Calm: stevenwebb.uk

Thank you for listening.

Steven

Links to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.


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