Relax and Release ($)

The difference between comfort and change.

“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”
— William James

Most of us don’t understand the difference between relaxing and releasing. Relaxing is what gives us comfort; releasing is what allows for change. Releasing requires relaxing, but relaxing doesn’t guarantee releasing. You start by relaxing and you might end by releasing, but if you don’t release, you end up back where you started.

Relaxing is not holding things tightly. We think of it physically, but we can also relax mentally. We can relax our mind in general and our thoughts in particular. Releasing is letting things go, which can mean letting go of consciousness and falling asleep, or letting go of ideas and becoming open.

When our minds are open they look for ideas, that seems to be how it works. “Nature abhors a vacuum,” Aristotle’s famous saying, is a reflection of the dynamic nature of things. If there is nothing changing, then vacuums stay intact. But when structures are looking to settle, then holes eventually get filled in.

Letting things go allows new things to develop. Releasing fosters healing and growth. Relaxing just makes you comfortable. Having an empty mind makes you an idea attractor.

If we want to change, the distinction between relaxing and releasing is important. We relax when we go on vacation and then we return to the same situation as before. Before long, we need to relax again. We release when we stop what we’ve been doing and don’t want to return to what we’ve been doing before.

The contrast is even more stark when relaxation brings happiness, because happiness is almost antithetical to enlightenment. Enlightenment involves effort, responsibility, leadership, and change. For most of us, those don’t bring happiness.

With enlightenment comes a larger understanding of both relaxation and happiness, and from this larger understanding, things will look different. Happiness looks different, too.

If relaxation is what you’re after, then enlightenment is what you won’t get.