I've spent many a restless night worrying that I wouldn't accomplish or attain something I greatly desired.
Many times, I've reached a place where I'm no longer even sure accomplishing the goal will actually bring me happiness. All I know is that if I don't keep pushing, I'll feel like I've given up. And if I feel like I've given up, I'll feel like a failure.
Sound familiar?
We all go through that in life.
From sinking relationships to infeasible career goals, we all hang on tightly to things that aren't worth our time because we equate letting go with giving up.
In reality, they are two very different things.
Letting go is a part of life. Dandelions let go of their seeds once they've nurtured them to readiness. Trees let go of their fruits once other living organisms can make better use of them.
But giving up? That's not something you see too much of in successful nature.
Imagine a dandelion giving up. What would that even look like?
It would look a lot like hoarding seeds and refusing to participate in the life cycle.
See where I'm going with this?
Sometimes, by refusing to let go, you're actually giving up. You're saying, "No, I don't trust myself to recover from this potential loss and so I'm going to hang onto this relationship, this goal, this project."
You're locking yourself into one scenario, even though its run its course, because you're comfortable there. You don't want to push yourself to explore all the other things the world has to offer.
Now, that doesn't sound much like living – does it? I encourage you to keep these thoughts in mind.