When Hanging On Is Holding You Back
He fought hard. He was adamant. He was not going to let it all go.
“No. I want to keep it”, was something he said repeatedly, insistently, and yes stubbornly too.
“Where will you put it?”, I asked, urging him to envision what I was seeing: his next home filled to the ceiling with stuff he didn’t use or need.
“I don’t know. But I want to keep it”, he’d say adamantly.
I would sigh, under my breath.
“Let’s put this one in the “maybe pile”, and we’ll come back to it later. Right now, our priority is identifying the essentials, the things you can’t live without. The rest, we’ll come back to later.”
“Ok”, he would mutter, hanging on to the fact that it was not gone, yet.
I’m sure you’ve been there before. Hanging on to hang on – in relationships, with sentimental items, with impactful memories, and die-hard habits. It’s part of human nature to hang on when we trust in something or someone, when we have a level of comfort with the known and the desire to avoid the unknown. We hang on because it’s easier to do so than it is to let go.
This client and what he was experiencing is not foreign to me. It’s what I have dealt with in the nine years of having Moving Forward Matters, my home transition business, in the nineteen years of having my 1-800-GOT-JUNK? business, and yes, in my private practice too of working with women, entrepreneurs and executives. In each of these businesses, my role it so help people through the process of letting go so they can move forward, and live their lives more fully. I help them to see that hanging on is actually holding them back.
This week, as you feel yourself holding onto to something – an idea, a feeling, a person, an object, a memory – ask yourself how it’s serving you. Is it helping you to live your life fully or is it holding you back? Is there something you can do to unpack it so you can see the source of why you’re holding onto it so tightly.
It is time to let it go? Or is it serving you to hold on?
As you assess it, and see it for what it is, ask yourself if it’s better to keep holding onto it or if it’s time to let it go so you can find happiness, health, and inner peace.
If this is hard for you and you’d like some assistance, do reach out to me. I’d be happy to unpack this with you so that you can find the way that is right for you to let it go.
Letting go is an act of love, self-care and resilience. It’s not a place or sign of weakness. It resides in inner strength and self-love. Click To Tweet
Let me know how you do this week. Are you letting go? Are you stuck in holding on? I’d love to hear from you.
