Let go of the past. Hold on to the present. Embrace the future. Or at least that would be what we do in a perfect world.
But life doesn’t go to plan or how we think it should go. If you ever meet somebody who says “Oh I planned all of this and everything went my way,” (1) they’re secretly a higher being we, as humans, cannot comprehend or (2) they’re lying to you. More likely than not, it’s going to be that second option.
Life is funny like that. Everything always seems to be pitted against you but in reality, it’s just you versus you. No “if’s”, “and’s” or “but’s” about it.
The mistakes we make are there for us to learn, not to dwell and regret on. We’re supposed to always move forward, sometimes it just feels impossible to do so.
It’s when you lose something in your life you didn’t know you could even lose. Lost. Gone. Forever. It is the single most painful thing when something like that leaves you. And it’s not even the pain of missing it that kills you. It’s the pain that you’re still there and have to live without what you lost.
The emptiness you feel in your life is unmatchable. In my opinion, the strongest emotion is emptiness. Not because it can be measured by the size of your smile or what shade of angry red your face gets, but because we’re so numbed by it always being there, once it’s gone it strikes 10 times harder than any other feeling you can experience.
I’m not just talking about grief and losing the ones we love to sicknesses or just old age. I’m talking about letting go or leaving something behind because you know you have to.
When it’s time for you to move on, there’s nothing you can do about the past except remember it for what it was. Whether you were supposed to learn a lesson somewhere in there or if you were just there for the fun ride.
Sometimes this “moving on” has a hard choice.
You have to let go of something greater than you can explain. Something more than you ever anticipated to experience in your lifetime.
A relationship, a passion for a career, a friend. You know the right thing to do is let go of them to achieve something more, something greater, but it hurts.
It pains you to let go of something you love that much. Remember the past. Be in the present. Move onward into the future with caution but open arms. Be ready and willing to try new things as you grow and learn. Let go of what is holding you back because you’re the only one still holding on to that. Nobody can change you except yourself.
“I know it feels like we’re saying goodbye, but we will carry a piece of each other into everything that we do next, to remind us of who we are, and of who we’re meant to be,” (Gwen Stacy, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”).