Hey, it's Luca and welcome to the Luca Savati podcast. So today I want to talk to you about letting go and not as a mindset, not as something that happens over time, but as an active choice because in my experience, nothing really lets go on its own. We often keep engaging and holding on to whatever is keeping us stuck. And sometimes without realizing how much a hole it has on us. And I'm saying this because it can all change the moment that we realize and we notice that we have a choice. And so I want to read you a short passage from my book, Go Own It All. And it's based on my personal experience. something that kept showing up again and again even years after it happened in my childhood and it's about something very specific that I carried from the age of six far into my adult life and this kept showing up as shame blame a deep sense of guilt I wrote this because this experience showed me what letting go can actually feel like in your body when something finally stops having a hold on you. Inside the cave, it was dark, cold, quiet, no sounds of life. I kept walking, touching the stone walls, smooth beneath my fingertips and wet. Up ahead, I saw a light, a small fire glowing alone in the center of the cave. No one was there, but the fire burned anyway. I want to put it out, I said. So, I walked to the fire, crouched down, and gently threw some dirt over it. Slowly, it dimmed. Then, it disappeared. The cave fell into stillness, into darkness. And then I felt it. The cave itself watching, breathing. I heard it speak, not in words, but in something deeper that became [music] words. Thank you, it said. I've been awake for [music] so long, and I'm so tired. I just want to sleep. The cave had been carrying [music] for such a long time. That's why the stone walls were wet. Not from the waterfall, but from its tears. But now it could stop carrying. It could sleep. It could rest. That fire was mine. The need to understand [music] the shame, the overthinking, the fear. I had kept it burning. I kept myself awake. And now I didn't need to anymore. This came out of a hypnosis session. And for me, hypnosis wasn't about being surrendered to a therapist in the way that you would see in movies or cartoons. I mean, no spiraling eyes, no loss of control. For me, it was a state of deep presence and a clear connection to my inner world. And I remember feeling relief, loss, freedom, grief, joy, happiness all at the same time. And my mind created this story to help me realize something very important. I had a choice. And in that moment, I made it. I actively decided to stop keeping an experience alive that had been keeping me stuck, keeping me awake, giving me a sense of guilt and shame. Now, letting go didn't happen by hoping that the fire would go out on its own. It happened because I chose to throw dirt over it, to stop feeding it. I chose to put it out. And we often think that letting go means forgetting or that time will somehow magically do the work for us or that we have to force ourselves into not thinking about it anymore. But that's not what it is at all. Letting go is an active choice. It means deciding to stop letting something control you. I mean, I still have memories of what happened. And I still wish none of it happened, but what changed is that I could stop keeping it alive. I stopped allowing it to control my life, my peace of mind, and my way forward. And many of us have something like this, something that we keep feeling, something that we keep alive. And of course, it doesn't have to be trauma. It can be an expectation, a role, a sense of guilt or loss, or a responsibility that we quietly accepted and we never questioned again. Sometimes we've been carrying for so long that it almost feels normal. Now, for me, letting go wasn't a release that happened to me. It was an active choice. I stopped carrying something that was never mine to begin with. Letting go didn't take anything away from me. It did not erase the past. It simply changed my way forward. I kept the awareness, but I let go of the weight. So, I'll leave you with this simple question. What still has a hold on you simply because you never chose to actively let go? And give yourself some time to slow down and answer this question. And for some of us who need something more practical to mark the choice of letting go, that can be as simple as writing down what you've been carrying and then burning the paper. Or create some other small ritual of your own, something that helps you close this chapter and start a fresh new one. However you choose to do it, the intention is always the same. to make space for healing, for joy, and for what really matters. So, I hope this makes sense to you the way it does to me. And if this episode make you think of someone you care about, a friend, a partner, a family member, let them know by sharing this episode and telling them why you thought of them. For now, I wish you courage and the strength to let go. Thank you so much for being here and I'll see you in our next [music] conversation.