There are some things in life that are surprisingly difficult to let go of.
An anger.
A disappointment.
A missed opportunity.
A relationship that did not become what we hoped it would be.
Words that were said—and words that were never said, etc.
We often tell ourselves that we should simply move on. We try to forget, but the harder we try, the more those thoughts seem to stay with us.
Perhaps letting go is not about forgetting.
Perhaps it is about accepting that something mattered.
We cannot change the past. We cannot control another person’s feelings. And sometimes, no matter how much we care, we cannot make something stay.
What we can control is what we do with our life now. Like a pilot, you can only control what’s in front of you at this very moment.
Letting go does not mean that we stop caring. It does not mean that something was unimportant. It simply means that we stop holding on so tightly.
Maybe that is what “letting things go” really means—not throwing something away, but slowly loosening our grip.
We don’t have to forget everything that hurt us. We don’t have to stop caring about everything we lost.
We just have to learn that we can carry the meaning of those experiences without carrying their weight forever.
Sometimes, letting go is not the end of a story.
I guess it is simply the moment when we finally turn the page.
P.S.
I often remember this song “Let me go” by Cake when I think about these things.
