This Is What ‘Letting Go’ Really Means Because It’s More Than Moving On

Letting go is complex because it’s many things at once. You want to let go but you can’t and you can let go but you don’t want to. Letting go of someone who died means accepting that they are never coming back. And letting go of someone you love in general means that they’re not going to be the same even if they come back. It’s beautiful because it teaches you survival.  And it’s painful because its beauty comes with a price. The kind of price you can afford but need to earn. With letting go, comes many disappointments and heartache. With letting go, hopes fades for a while. But, without it, hope dies forever.

Letting go means finding out who you are. It means allowing yourself to fall in love again. It means forgiving your best friend and perhaps finding a better one. It means excusing your parents for their shortcomings and becoming an adult. It means leaving a place that doesn’t appreciate you, that doesn’t make you feel safe, that doesn’t embrace you. Letting go means creating your own place in the world. It means uniting with your kind of people. It means doing the things you want, the things that get you going, the things that give you a 100 million reasons to live. It means letting go of the person you think you should be. It means being the person you are on the inside, the one you’ve been this whole time.

Letting go means challenging yourself. It means doing things you’re not comfortable with. It means choosing to go out when you feel like dying. Letting go means doing things differently and doing different things. It means asking for help. It means saying “no” or “I can’t.”

It means being kind when you’re hurt. It means being understanding when you can’t see the point. It means having faith when your mind is clouded with doubt and it means being loving when your heart is on fire. It means dancing when you can’t hear the music and it means singing even if you don’t understand the lyrics. Letting go means going with the flow but still painting your own reality.

Letting go means giving the future a chance. It means choosing the unknown over something you  got familiar with. It means not allowing your past experiences shape the yet to come ones. It means strength in weak moments, confidence in a cloudy weather and positive attitude in an unfortunate situation. Letting go means having trust that things will get better. It means being brave to move forward to get to where you want to be.

Letting go means accepting the things you can’t change and doing something about the things you can. It means choosing your battles; knowing what’s worth fighting for and what is not. It means believing that you don’t get the things you want because they are far less than what you deserve. It means not ending –up with someone you thought you were meant to be with because there’s someone else far better waiting for you.

Letting go means you have lived. It means you have tried. It means you felt something real. It means you gave even if you have not received. It means you’ve been open. It means that you cried and that you smiled. It means that you fell hard but that you rose high. Letting go means you have been loved and it means that you have loved. Letting go means you experienced magic in this life even if it was for a little while.