One of the hardest things to do in life is to let go of things that are not meant for you.
It’s easy to be attached to the things you love- a relationship, a career, or even a memory. We become attached to things that mean so much to us and while this is normal, it’s not the healthiest mindset to have.
Clinging to the things not meant for you will result in disastrous things later on, without you realizing it.
In this article, we’ll be focusing on talking about how to let go of things in life.
Why It’s Hard To Let Go of Things
We want the things we love for a long time and it’s only natural that we don’t want to lose them. This doesn’t necessarily mean a person, but it can also be careers, memories, and even the past. We don’t like the idea of change and familiarity is easier than having to face a fresh start.
However, not all things we love deserve or are meant for us.
Oftentimes, we only encountered it to teach us a lesson about something, and clinging to it will only hurt much more in the process.
To let go of things, you need to understand that you need to keep moving forward, with or without them in the picture.
15 Steps for Letting Go of Things
1. Change your mindset
You can’t let go of things or people if your mindset is focused on not letting go. Even when it’s hard, shift your mindset so that you can let go better.
For instance, a good mindset would be thinking you learned a lot from the experience, despite it not lasting.
2. Let yourself feel
You can’t force yourself to let go of things if you haven’t let yourself feel your emotions. Stop running away from it and shutting them out. It may be difficult, but the only way to let go is to let yourself feel it.
3. Don’t wait for an apology
We often put the people we love on a pedestal, which prevents us from letting go. However, you can’t wait around for an apology before getting on with your life. That might never happen and it’s an unhealthy way to live.
4. Express your emotions
There are various ways to express what you feel in attempting to let go. Use your passion for the arts or maybe write everything you feel in a journal.
Oftentimes, why we can’t let go is because of the certain repressed emotions we have.
5. Practice self-care
It’s hard to let go of things when you don’t practice self-care enough. In order to detach, you need to replace it with another form of love and that kind of love is self-love.
We’re so busy putting our attention to others that we forget we need care too.
6. Accept it’s for the best
They say that letting go is the greatest act of love and there’s a fact to this. When you realize that letting go is for the best, your life starts to change accordingly.
Even if we don’t realize this at first, acceptance is the key to letting go.
7. Forgive them
Forgiveness is the major roadblock in letting go as you can’t let them go if you haven’t forgiven them- or yourself. Let go of holding a grudge and only then can you move forward.
8. Separate yourself from them
Whether it’s a place or a person, you need to physically separate yourself from them to let them go. This means going somewhere far that doesn’t remind you of them at all.
A fresh start may be hard, but it’s necessary.
9. Use it to empower yourself
Letting go is one of the difficult things you’re ever going to learn, but it can also fuel your confidence. By applying everything you learned from that experience, you become a much better individual.
10. Be optimistic
Even when you feel downhearted with your situation, be optimistic that the world offers limitless opportunities. When you let go, something better comes along in your life.
11. Release negative emotions
No matter what you feel- anger, resentment, guilt, regret, shame, devastation- these hurt you more than anyone else. You need to be stronger than your emotions if you want to let to.
12. Focus on improving yourself
Nothing is a better outlet in moving forward than making the effort of improving yourself gradually. To let things go, you need to replace negativity with drive and motivation instead.
13. Learn to meditate
If you feel burdened by letting go, meditation helps you deal with your negative emotions better through breathing exercises. You’ll find it easier to let go of things.
14. Grieve their loss
Grief doesn’t necessarily associate with death, but you can grief their loss when you let go of them. It’s an important process in this case.
15. Make peace with your past
No matter how much you wish you can turn back time, you can’t go back to a moment that’s over. You can only cherish it in your memories.
Why Letting Go of Things is Important
If you fail to let go of things, this will keep you stuck in the same place for a long time. You need to let go, especially if something or someone is no longer helping you grow.
Love isn’t a requirement that you stick with them forever and this is the very concept of growth. You can’t grow, especially if you’re attached to something that isn’t meant to be yours.
Once you’ve realized this, let them go and see the experience as something to learn from.
Final Thoughts
I hope this article was able to shed insight on how to let go of things. While this can be the most difficult thing you’re going to experience, it’s a necessity for everyone to go through.
At some point, you learn that letting go is the only option if you want to keep moving forward and living yourself. Being attached to things, places, memories, and people will hinder your growth completely from living your best life. As hard as it is, you need to let go.