Have you ever thought about letting go? What does it truly mean? Is it that simple to let go of something or someone? People write and sing about letting go but what do they really mean by letting go? Yes I am also wondering the same thing.

If that’s simple, then there won’t be these many heartbroken people in our world. Even today it gives me chills when I think about my grandfather, one of the people who I love the most. People need to let go of different things, sometimes it’s a person, a pet or some materialistic object. You may think one is easier than the other, but it’s not. This totally depends on connection or shared memories with that thing rather than the thing itself. Here we are not talking about the fear of letting go but rather about the meaning of letting go.

So what does it take to let go of something or is it even possible to do that? The answer is yes and no. Yes, we can let go of something from our major mindspace. There are a lot of other things that will occupy our mind on a daily basis. But no, we can’t let go of something completely when we have shared some meaningful memories with it. The first step of letting go is stop worrying about the reasons that you lost something. If the mistake is on you then take that as a learning, if the mistake is on someone else then forgive and try to communicate to them if possible. Either way worrying about what you could have done better won’t bring it back. You have to move past this stage first. You should only worry about the things that you can take action on.

Later comes the memories part. Those silent moments or similar patterns will always dig up those feelings. But the true art of letting go isn’t forgetting something, but rather learning to make peace with it. Instead of thinking what we had lost? Think about what we got to experience. If you think this way, this won’t be a burden anymore but rather a sweet memory that will make your day.

But it’s not that simple as I say. It takes time to understand and practice this. But it will give us peace of mind. We all are going to be just memories someday, so what’s the point of thinking that we should have something indefinitely. So instead of worrying about the things that we lost, just let it go and focus on the things that matter now. Those memories will come up again here and there in your day, but don’t fight with it. Just try to make peace with it. You may ask, how can I do that?

Everyone won’t have the same answer for this question. Sometimes thinking about what you actually lost or gained by losing it might help. Sometimes crying, writing or speaking to someone about it might help. Sometimes when you express your feelings through some medium like singing, drawing, driving or some physical activities might help. Sometimes being grateful for what you have currently might help. Sometimes it’s being grateful for what you had and understanding nothing will be permanent will help. Sometimes it’s easy when you think of how short our lives are to waste time by worrying about something. There are different ways for different people that we need to figure either ourselves or with the help of someone.

So the final answer to that question is: letting go doesn’t mean forgetting it and fighting with it, it’s actually making peace with it. Rather than worrying about it, try to focus on things that will help you and people around you to be happy. We never know when we are living the “good old days” until it becomes one.