This question has stemmed from a recent conversation I had in which I explored the concept of having nothing to lose and everything to gain. As soon as it came up in conversation it immediately struck a chord with me. It might sound a bit cliché, but it can offer a lot of significance in moments that can prove very poignant.
It begs the question that, even if we say that there is something more to potentially lose, how can this be if we’re no longer living as a conscious being?
Is it right then to assume that when we hit rock bottom, when we lose ourselves completely, there is only freedom to be found there, an opportunity to acknowledge and to accept that nothing that we can lose now can be of any use to us? Because how can it.. if we’ve lost touch of who we really are?
The raw truth that this realisation carries, may also be accompanied with an overwhelm of pain and sadness. That’s okay. Because if this is truly the case, that we really cannot lose anymore, then surely even this awareness can in itself only be perceived as a 'gain'. The space being offered to us now, is therefore one in which we have the potential to move forward, to choose to live life fully.
We could then go on to ask, how can the absence of who we truly are experience a gain in any way? My own experience tells me it’s to do with instinct and gut feeling. It makes sense to me that if we feel completely backed into a corner, trapped in every way - physically, emotionally, spiritually - our last call for help will be through our instinctual fight or flight response. In other words - our survival instinct sets in. We all have our individual journeys, all taking place in their own time and in their own way. Some of us may ignore it, submit to it and others of us will obey and fight. If we really have nothing further to lose, or better put - if we have everything to gain - for many of us, it is time to start listening to that instinct and to start fighting, to start living once more and to re-connect to our conscious self. This can be such an incredibly painful, gratifying and powerful awakening.
Indeed the world can be perceived and experienced as a fearful, dark, overwhelming and confusing place. But what we can learn and choose to recognise with this awareness, is that it can be all of these things, whilst also presenting the opportunity for life, passion, excitement and lightness. In stepping back into this world, we are inevitably inviting possible losses into our lives, and likewise, we are also inviting the potential of what can be gained through this shift. We are opening ourselves up to a life where risks are taken, and with this comes a huge opportunity for creativity and possibility.
Why not drop the first part entirely - of having nothing to lose - and affirm from now onward, that we simply have everything to gain.