Written by contributing blogger, Daniela Forte.
Spring is here and the season beckons for rebirth and renewal from the harsh winter of life. And with a new season comes the beauty of just letting go. Letting go is not always easy…whether it is an item that has sentimental value or a person or situation in your life, it can be damn difficult.
Sometimes however, it is necessary. Especially if it is something that causes you more heartache than happiness in your life. You have to push forward and be grateful for all that it has brought you.
Are there things in your life right now that you know you need to let go of? Some spring-cleaning perhaps? Get out your duster, your strength and get cleaning!
Here are a few ways or things we can always declutter:
Clothes and Clutter: I cannot tell you what my closet looks like right now, it is an absolute mess of winter clothes, new spring clothes and clothes that I probably still have since high school. This spring, get out your big garbage bag and start cleaning out your closet! What is great about this is that you will feel refreshed, clean and ready to restock again with all the new clothes you can purchase as the warmer weather approaches. Clutter sometimes happen naturally, for me it happens because I get lazy and don’t throw things away, or I feel everything has a sentimental value to it and I cannot in any way part from it, and weed through the clutter and keep what is important.
People: Over 10 years ago I let go of two friendships that at the time were two people that were very important to me. Unfortunately, I was not important to them. I was often treated as an afterthought, ridiculed by these people and just treated poorly. They say that the hardest part about letting go is the actual act itself, and then once you do it, you will realize it was the easiest thing you could have ever done. For these two people, that was very true. Once I decided these two people could no longer be part of my life, I never looked back. In fact, I was happy to say goodbye, I wasn’t even sad about it. In fact I was ecstatic about it. When people treat you poorly on a consistent basis with no regard to your feelings, losing them isn’t really a loss, but a gain. Sometimes you are forced to accept what you don’t understand and move forward and push through.
Anger, Anxiety and Stress: Let that shit go! I cannot “stress” this enough. You are talking to someone who deals with all three of these God-awful feelings regularly. Life will always bring these feelings on, because things happen and often times you have no idea what to do about it. Lately, I have found myself praying, and I am not the super religious type, but there have been days where I have prayed non-stop through the day, asking for relief from the things that hurt me physically and emotionally. If you can find some type of outlet, whether it is praying, meditating or something creative to get your mind off what is hurting you, I suggest you do it. We only have this one life to live, and living with each of these feelings should never be an option. Think about yourself, what makes you happy, surround yourself with people who love and support you.
Nasty Habits: My nasty habit? Smoking. I smoke cigarettes regularly. I am not going to say I haven’t tried to quit, because I have. Everything from the nicotine patch to the newly popular e-cigarette. None of it has worked for me. My only option now is cold turkey, and I am not sure if I am ready yet. It has offered me comfort, solace when life has been too hard to handle. It’s not an excuse, just my truth. Habits are not easy to break, especially if it is a habit that offered you a sense of comfort when you needed it most, but that is the thing about bad habits, they make you think they are helping you when in reality they aren’t. However, if there is a nasty habit that you are ready to let go of, by all means do it. However, that is the thing, you have to be ready to let go of the habit, otherwise you won’t do it or be successful at it. So whether you have a bad smoking habit like me, or you drink too much, eat excessively, or anything that is just not good for your health and wellbeing, look for a way to slowly let it go.
Bad Self-Talk: Should I tell you what I have called myself in the last year? I have called myself every nasty thing in the book. Everything from I am a horrible person, to I am no good at my job, I’m ugly, why would anyone want me… the list goes on. And just now, I am stopping this. Just now. Just now I am telling myself I am strong, that I am good at my job, I am a pretty awesome person, and that I am not in fact ugly and that one day someone will want me. But I am nowhere near the finish line, nowhere near it. If anything I have just begun the race, just begun running. I can’t easily tell you to stop the bad self-talk, but you must know that when you talk badly about yourself, you are putting that energy out into the world, and what you think about, you manifest. Tell yourself you are beautiful, you are handsome; you are great at what you do and that you are in fact a wonderful person that can offer some lucky person everything they need and want. Remember love yourself! You are worth it and don’t ever forget that. It helps to surround yourself with people who see the greatness that you are and love you for all that you are.
What You Can’t Change: My best friend will often ask me this important question: “Is this a horse you can control?” She asks me this question every time I let what I can’t change rule my mind and my heart. When I have let my anxiousness get the better of me. I often reply, “No” and then I realize I cannot control what changes happen in life, but I can control how I handle it. Sometimes all it takes is a change in perspective. That is my best friend’s other favorite statement to me, “Change your perspective.” Let go of what you can’t change, whether it is how people treat you, how that situation turned out, whatever it is… and believe you can handle what life throws at you. Get up everyday with a grateful heart and put one foot in front of the other.
These are just a few things you can let go of, I encourage you to make your own list, buy yourself a journal or write it in your notes app, it doesn’t matter. Writing it down is just part of the letting go fun, implementing the process of letting go is the hard part. Letting go is not just a day thing either; it is a daily effort until one day it isn’t anymore. You can do it, I promise you.
#radiatedaily
