When You Hold On Too Tight...

The biggest gift I've ever given myself is the gift of letting go.

Learning to let go took strength and courage, but once I started up that faithful staircase, my life changed for the better. And this wasn't something I was able to change over night, it took me over a full year to completely understand how much I was holding on to.

All sorts of baggage. 

And that baggage weighed me down, made me angry, made me sad. 

Like an emotional sherpa, I just kept carting my baggage up Mount Everest, waiting for someone to take it off my back. The problem was the only person that could do that was me.

I was sitting in the passenger seat of life, letting everything just happen to me. I wasn't taking charge or taking responsibility. I was letting the world dictate who I was and how I felt.

I had hit a wall and realized something needed to change - I couldn't keep going on like this. I began to dig deep and started noticing a whole lot of recurring events.

A year and a half later, I got the message:

Let go!

Let go of the negativity, the stress, the bad situations.

Let go of the people who want to walk out of your life.

Let go of the relationships that just leave you broken and sad.

Let go of what you can't control.

Let it go!

All these doors kept closing around me and I was just standing there waiting for them to reopen. When every door closes you either stay stuck or you move on. I was sick and tired of being stuck. I--for once--began to undoubtably understand that the only thing I had control over was me, my life, and my happiness.

So I summoned all the strength I could find and started letting go. 

I unraveled the baggage slowly. Once the larger items were stripped off my back, I began to see that letting go wasn't only about situations and people, there were a lot of little things in my life that I was trying to control...

It took baby steps.

It still takes baby steps.

One thing I now know for certain: it's ok to let go. In fact, it's necessary. You can't make any real decisions or changes until you take some steps back and let things unravel the way they are supposed to.

Sometimes we hold on so tight, we don't realize we're missing so many other wonderful opportunities. 

The biggest realization in all of this is that letting go isn't about ignoring someone or being hurtful; letting go is removing yourself from situations, because it is too much for your own well being.

Letting go is setting your heart free!

New doors are opening because I'm willing to let the wrong doors close.

So have a little faith and let go!

Can you relate? I'd love to hear your story! How have you let go?