Something that’s been a struggle of mine for most of my life is letting go. For whatever reason, I’ve long had this underlying feeling that I have to say yes to just about anything someone asks me to do and stick with them indefinitely, and that I’d be in the wrong if I said no. Except for a few occasions that came during major life changes, I’ve always had a hard time leaving people and situations behind. That has changed within the past year, however.
I’ve gradually gotten better at saying no, distancing myself from harmful people and places, and working to change negative mindsets and destructive habits. It’s taken a lot to get here and I still have a lot of room for improvement, but I’ve improved a lot over time. Practicing setting limits, meditating, floating, and reading a ton of useful books has worked wonders for me. The reason I’ve been successful with all of this is that I decided to start loving myself enough to pursue these positive things. There’s only so much room in my life, and filling it with things that are wrong for me prevents me from filling it with things that are right for me. Saying goodbye to things that drag me down allows me to say yes to things that lift me up.
While I’ve definitely focused on taking care of myself and loving myself to a much greater extent than I ever have before, this hasn’t made me stop caring about other people. Rather, it has allowed me to be a better person to those around me. It’s much easier to help someone when I’m in a good place in life than when I’m in a bad place, and having a positive attitude does much more to lift everyone’s spirits than a negative attitude. Slowly replacing the bad with the good has made all the difference for me, and I expect my progress to come even faster now that I’ve got a lot of positive momentum carrying me in the right direction. Letting go is still a struggle for me but the little bit that I’ve done thus far has been well worth it and I’m excited to see where it takes me as I continue improving at it.