Why Letting Go of the things is so hard?
Most of us don’t want to let go of things we like. So we hang on until they’re forcibly taken away, and even then, we still hold on mentally and emotionally. What we may not realize is that holding on can wreak havoc in our lives.
What is meant by Letting Go?
We often hear that we need to let go of something we can’t control when it seems to be causing us problems. But, what does letting go really mean? To understand this, we need to understand why we get attached to things in the first place.
Attachment is a mental and emotional fixation on something we think we need or want. We get attached to things like people, views, outcomes, or material possessions. The reason we get attached to them is that we’re afraid we’ll lose them, and therefore, we’ll be unhappy, or we may even think we won’t survive.
Many of us confuse sensual pleasure, or emotional gratification, with happiness. They are not the same. True happiness comes from freedom from suffering, not sensual pleasure. The problem with this approach to finding happiness is that our emotions are temporary by nature. Until we learn how to find freedom from our suffering, we will continue to get attached to things that bring us sensual pleasure or emotional gratification.
So, letting go means releasing our fixation on these things. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll lose them. It just means we have enough faith that we’ll get the things we need to survive in this world, and maybe even be happy.
Our stuff has sentimental value:-
The most common reason we hold onto things is that we’re sentimental creatures.
The tiny bottle of white sand from your trip to Oahu. Many things we own remind us of a loved one, special trip, or happy period in our lives, making them difficult to part with.
“If you can say yes, you can donate that item. Someone else will love it,” says Trager.
If you’re tempted to keep the item for nostalgia’s sake, take a photo of it instead and jot down a few sentences about its importance.
We worry we might need something again:-
This is one of the most dangerous excuses out there. It’s why we hold onto everything from instruction manuals and broken colored pencils to untouched snowboards and old chemistry textbooks.
But as Monica Friel, owner of Chicago-based Chaos to Order, says, “There’s a difference between needing something and possibly needing something.”
Storing stuff we don’t use or like just because we think we might need it again someday isn’t productive or healthy.
Trager advises getting real and asking yourself when you last used the item in question. If it’s been a year or longer, you can let it go.
“You will sometimes get rid of something you may want again. That’s okay. You can borrow it, rent it, or repurchase it if you must,” says Trager.
We feel guilty about the money we spent:-
Decluttering guilt 2.0 happens when we’re reluctant to let something go because we’ve spent a significant amount of money on it.
Maybe it’s the pricey and bulky blender you realize you’ll never use (here’s a small and powerful alternative), the non-refundable winter coat that makes you itch, or the fancy bookcase you splurged on only to discover it clashes with your decor.
Whatever the item, it’s tempting to want to keep it simple because of its perceived monetary value.
But, as Trager says, “Just because we spent money on something at one point doesn’t mean it still has that dollar value. Ask yourself if that dollar value is worth the space it takes up in your home.
We don’t make time:-
Time is precious, and the last thing most of us want to spend it on is cleaning or decluttering.
That’s why our stuff accumulates so quickly — we often don’t take the time to consider the things we own and the value they bring to our lives.
Instead of waiting until you have an entire weekend to sort through your stuff, make small decisions as they come up. Designate one bin for trash and one for items to donate. Then toss things in right when you realize you no longer need them.
For everything, you don’t have space for but can’t let go of quite yet (like your out-of-season clothes, book collections, or furniture), use MakeSpace.
Simply schedule a pickup and pack your stuff. We’ll pick up everything from your home and transport it to our secure, temperature-controlled storage facility.
And when you finally find the perfect corner spot for your collection of vintage DVDs, log into your MakeSpace account, select the bin storing your DVDs, and we’ll deliver it to you.
The Benefits of Learning to Let Go:
So, why should we learn to let go? There are a variety of reasons. Among them are freedom, Self-motivation, and continued personal growth.
Letting go leads to freedom. When we learn to let go, we can be free of the sources of our pain and suffering that are holding us back.
We often hang on to things that are no longer serving us. That’s when it’s time to move on.
Conclusion:
I know from personal experience that letting go can be really hard, and even scary. But, in the past years, I’ve had to let go of many things I thought I needed to survive, yet I’m still alive. In fact, I’m quite happy.
I’ve learned to let go, and so can you. It gets easier with time and experience. Once you realize how liberating it can be to let go of things, and have a few successes under your belt, you’ll be able to let go before something causes you great harm.
In time, you’ll be able to move beyond just letting go, and not get attached to things in the first place. When this happens, then you’ll know the true meaning of freedom.
What is meant by Letting Go?
We often hear that we need to let go of something we can’t control when it seems to be causing us problems. But, what does letting go really mean? To understand this, we need to understand why we get attached to things in the first place.
Attachment is a mental and emotional fixation on something we think we need or want. We get attached to things like people, views, outcomes, or material possessions. The reason we get attached to them is that we’re afraid we’ll lose them, and therefore, we’ll be unhappy, or we may even think we won’t survive.
Many of us confuse sensual pleasure, or emotional gratification, with happiness. They are not the same. True happiness comes from freedom from suffering, not sensual pleasure. The problem with this approach to finding happiness is that our emotions are temporary by nature. Until we learn how to find freedom from our suffering, we will continue to get attached to things that bring us sensual pleasure or emotional gratification.
So, letting go means releasing our fixation on these things. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll lose them. It just means we have enough faith that we’ll get the things we need to survive in this world, and maybe even be happy.
Our stuff has sentimental value:-
The most common reason we hold onto things is that we’re sentimental creatures.
The tiny bottle of white sand from your trip to Oahu. Many things we own remind us of a loved one, special trip, or happy period in our lives, making them difficult to part with.
“If you can say yes, you can donate that item. Someone else will love it,” says Trager.
If you’re tempted to keep the item for nostalgia’s sake, take a photo of it instead and jot down a few sentences about its importance.
We worry we might need something again:-
This is one of the most dangerous excuses out there. It’s why we hold onto everything from instruction manuals and broken colored pencils to untouched snowboards and old chemistry textbooks.
But as Monica Friel, owner of Chicago-based Chaos to Order, says, “There’s a difference between needing something and possibly needing something.”
Storing stuff we don’t use or like just because we think we might need it again someday isn’t productive or healthy.
Trager advises getting real and asking yourself when you last used the item in question. If it’s been a year or longer, you can let it go.
“You will sometimes get rid of something you may want again. That’s okay. You can borrow it, rent it, or repurchase it if you must,” says Trager.
We feel guilty about the money we spent:-
Decluttering guilt 2.0 happens when we’re reluctant to let something go because we’ve spent a significant amount of money on it.
Maybe it’s the pricey and bulky blender you realize you’ll never use (here’s a small and powerful alternative), the non-refundable winter coat that makes you itch, or the fancy bookcase you splurged on only to discover it clashes with your decor.
Whatever the item, it’s tempting to want to keep it simple because of its perceived monetary value.
But, as Trager says, “Just because we spent money on something at one point doesn’t mean it still has that dollar value. Ask yourself if that dollar value is worth the space it takes up in your home.
We don’t make time:-
Time is precious, and the last thing most of us want to spend it on is cleaning or decluttering.
That’s why our stuff accumulates so quickly — we often don’t take the time to consider the things we own and the value they bring to our lives.
Instead of waiting until you have an entire weekend to sort through your stuff, make small decisions as they come up. Designate one bin for trash and one for items to donate. Then toss things in right when you realize you no longer need them.
For everything, you don’t have space for but can’t let go of quite yet (like your out-of-season clothes, book collections, or furniture), use MakeSpace.
Simply schedule a pickup and pack your stuff. We’ll pick up everything from your home and transport it to our secure, temperature-controlled storage facility.
And when you finally find the perfect corner spot for your collection of vintage DVDs, log into your MakeSpace account, select the bin storing your DVDs, and we’ll deliver it to you.
The Benefits of Learning to Let Go:
So, why should we learn to let go? There are a variety of reasons. Among them are freedom, Self-motivation, and continued personal growth.
Letting go leads to freedom. When we learn to let go, we can be free of the sources of our pain and suffering that are holding us back.
We often hang on to things that are no longer serving us. That’s when it’s time to move on.
Conclusion:
I know from personal experience that letting go can be really hard, and even scary. But, in the past years, I’ve had to let go of many things I thought I needed to survive, yet I’m still alive. In fact, I’m quite happy.
I’ve learned to let go, and so can you. It gets easier with time and experience. Once you realize how liberating it can be to let go of things, and have a few successes under your belt, you’ll be able to let go before something causes you great harm.
In time, you’ll be able to move beyond just letting go, and not get attached to things in the first place. When this happens, then you’ll know the true meaning of freedom.
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