Holding on or letting go?

Have you ever found yourself in a situation when you know that the only right thing to do is let go of something; your boyfriend, girlfriend, family, sports, work etc. But in the exact second you feel like letting go you remember why you've been holding on for so long, and you decide to give it yet another "one last try"...

To hold on to things and people that you care about is in the nature of humans. I'm sure all of us has a close friend or relative that has moved away, or for some other reason no longer is in our life, that we miss so much.. So much that when we see this person we are alomost afraid to hug them because we're afarid that we will never want to let go. These are people and feelings that are not hurting us, but there are people in our surroundings that we are fully aware of that they are not good for us, but still we hold on to them.. why? Maybe because they have been in our lives for so long that we are afraid to even think about what our lives would be like without them near.. Maybe because we care for these people more than we should, more than they deserve.. or maybe we are holding on because this person has done something, at some point in our life, that has brought us endless joy, and we want to repay them for this (without realizing that we have already done this). It is so easy to hold on, and it takes so little to learn to love a person so much that you never want to let them go, and you believe that you are a strong person for being able to keep these people in your life.

But.. the real strength is in letting go. Because it is often it is these people who have done something good in our lives that are using our goodness and take and expect a lot more from us than they deserve. After a while we learn that these people are treating us wrong. I'm sure that you recognize that you have given everything to your boyfriend/girlfriend, in a realationship, but have got nothing in return, or covered for a collegue many times but when you needed help they refused to help you. I'm sure you have let a friend cry out their heart on your shoulders but when you needed them they were nowhere to be found, or done many favours for a person but when you needed a favour they wanted to get payed. And even though our list of why we should let go of these people is miles-long, we only see then one or two reasons why we should hold on. But now is the time to open our eyes, to look over our shoulders and see the things that we know has always been there but which we did not want to see. It is time to gather all ou courage and simply let go of people and things that are hurting us. We do not necessarily need to push them out of our lives, just distance them enough so that they can't hurt us anymore..

And when this is done, all we will have left is joy. Because the people that will still be in our lives are the ones that brings happiness to us, the ones that makes us smile when we feel like we're never gonna laugh again.. The ones that will be lying next to us if we were sad even if it means that they will miss the concert of their favourite artist. It is only these people that DESERVE to be in our lives.

Every breath is an oportunity to receive and let go. I receive love and let go of pain!
- Brenda MacIntyre

To live or survive?

In today's society many people seem to think that the words "live" and "survive" means the same thing. This is something that I have been thinking about for a couple of days now, and looking back on my life I have realized that they mean two different things!

To survive takes a lot of strength, to get through tough periods in life.. betrayal by your friends and family, loss of love, unsuccessful studies or whatever else that has been a setback one's life. Big, just as small, setbacks takes strength to get through, a strength that exists within us, in every individual, that we did not know was there. And when we think that we won't be able to pull through, that we can't do it anymore, that's when we find new strength.. Some of us find it in our friends, family, siblings, God, even strangers.. they give us new strength to pull through another day until we see the light at the end of the dark tunnel at last.

But to really live, THAT takes courage! To really open your eyes and take a step forward and realize that you have a place in this world, to open your heart for new acquaintances and love that is heading towards us. To suggest a new idea at work or school, or to take off your shoes and walk barefoot in the green summer-grass. To try a new fruit that you have never tasted before or to travel to a place that has a culture different from your own.. That is what I call to living..

So do you really live, or are you simply a survivor?