Detaching by John Cali

Many years ago I was a commercial pilot and flight instructor. In our company we used small single-engine Piper aircraft to train students. One of the most challenging lessons for students (including me when I was a student) was spin control.

Many fatal aviation accidents in those days were caused by pilots losing control and spinning into the ground. So spin control was a required part of the flight curriculum.

Teaching spin control was simple task. The instructor and student would climb to a safe altitude, and then deliberately put the plane into a spin. No better (or scarier) way to learn spin control.

The students’ first gut reaction was invariably wrong. They would hold the plane’s controls tightly, only making the spin worse. Ironically, the best way to recover from a spin in the particular planes we used was to release the controls. You simply let go and the plane would recover by itself.

Isn’t that a great metaphor for life? Just letting go. Detaching.

Here’s what Spirit has to say:

“In your modern world many of you feel like your lives are spinning out of control. This is a time of great change and, often, you are holding on far too tightly. You’re holding onto everything — your values, your loved ones, your material possessions, even your spiritual ideals — far too tightly.

“So the spinning continues, in an ever-increasing downward spiral. You feel lost, hurt, not knowing where or to whom to turn. Now this is not a bad thing. For you will eventually learn ‘spin recovery.’

“The value of spinning out of control is that it’s a grand opportunity for you to practice allowance. So what does allowance have to do with the state of your lives and your world? Everything!

“Allowance is simply letting go, letting everything and everyone (including yourselves) be okay just as they are, where they are. Until you, as a human race, get beyond needing others to live as you think they should, you will continue spinning out of control. You need to practice detaching.

“But you, individually — in your own personal lives — can practice spin recovery and get your life back into ‘level flight.’ It doesn’t matter what the rest of the world is doing. Even if every other human on the planet is spinning out of control, you have the power to live a peaceful, joyful, abundant, detached life.

“Just let go of your controls, detach from the outcomes, and you will be amazed at what happens.”

What do you do when you find your life spinning out of control? Please comment below.

John Cali’s Spirit Speaks Newsletter

8 Responses

  1. Jerry

    I love to tease people around me when they get SO SERIOUS ( especially bosses) …. about anything. It helps us both to observe our reactions to duality and maybe be more conscious of our heart vs ego. Laughter really heals the heart and soul and our work area is now usually full of people smiling and relaxed. I have never had so many hugs in all my life and that just makes heaven alot closer!

  2. John Cali

    Thank you, Diane. Letting go works wonders, doesn't it? 🙂

  3. Diane

    This is a wonderful reminder to let go and let God, John. Thank you. When I get so caught up in worldly things and issues, I often picture myself with my fingers tight on the edge of a building…the clinging effect. I then remember that I am a powerful sovereign being and have a choice to stay centered and grounded. Just letting go of that edge…

  4. Anonymous

    This is very like abrahams stream analogy. nothing is upstream yet we paddle and paddle to get upstream. let go of the ores and flow downstream. all about control. let go of the control.

  5. Eric

    I find when I'm "clinging to the controls", I've usually forgotten true cause and effect. This world is a projection, I am the cause. When I forget, and think that this world is the cause, is when I get upset. When I center, and connect to my Source, I relax and "the plane flies itself".

  6. WishUFree

    This is one GREAT post John! What better time for this than now! Great way to approach our daily lives in this time of change! Bravo!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.