Letting Go

Is it about giving up?

Hansel
Hansel
Jul 21, 2017 · 3 min read

The other day, I was wearing my new boots for the first time. I had bought it several months back and could not bear to wear it. It looks so good, and I don’t want to spoil it so fast, I had thought.

My first hundred metres into the new boots, I could feel the back of the boots rubbing against the back of my heels. Okay, it’s not a perfect fit, but I’ll season it like my previous leather shoes. And so, I trudged on.

Despite my attempts to tighten the boots further, the slight abrasion became severe. By the end of the day, I was struggling to walk home in the boots. When I was nearing home, an idea struck, why not take them off. Who cares if I’m in my shirt and pants, or if the floor is wet from the rain?


Photo by Ben Hartley, Unsplash.

My feet felt light and free the moment the boots came off. Then, off came the moist warm socks and I could instantly feel the coolness of the breeze brushing against the skin of my feet.

My first few steps collected and turned into skips, as my freed feet glided playfully in the air. The cold damp gravel beneath my feet, and bits of sand stayed stuck between the toes. These would not have been the most comfortable on other days. It was hard, cold and wet.

But at that moment, it felt real. I felt grounded.


In life, we all have that pair of dream boots that we want to fit in, that we think will look fabulous on us. Even if it puts us in pain, we bear with it, hoping and believing that the leather will mould itself around our feet.

Perhaps it will, and perhaps it is through grit and determination that we will realise our idealised dream — of fitting in that perfect pair of boots. Or perhaps, those boots were never meant to be for your feet at all.

I could have pushed through and bear the pain and the abrasion all the way home. My skin might have eroded a tad more, and the boots would have fitted a little better at the end, but that day I chose a different route.

We all need that perseverance and stubbornness in us to keep going in life. It is only through weathering the bitter storms will we get to sweet endings. Yet, if being obstinate means hurting ourselves, should we carry on with it?

Letting go can be seen as a sign of weakness. On another hand, it is almost inevitable to let go when it is causing pain, especially when the pain is harming oneself.

It is about being true to your needs and yourself at that point of time. It is recognising what is best for yourself in the long run, and whether the pain will mould you or harm you.

There is no right or wrong to letting go.

No one else can assess that for you.

)

Hansel

Written by

Hansel

A crypto writer who researches and charts cryptocurrencies for investing and trading. Author of Rolling In Crypto. https://book.herzigansel.com

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