JustLikeADream
Favoured Frenzy
The Selfishness Of Letting Go.
Sometimes, letting go is considered wrong, because it does not fit into someone else’s idea of what we should endure. The moment we choose ourselves, our peace, our sanity over the expectations of others, we are often given names: selfish, narcissistic, heartless, inconsiderate. As though choosing not to drown with someone else is an act of cruelty. But perhaps we have been taught to confuse selflessness with self-destruction.
There are things we hold onto long after they have stopped belonging to us. People, memories, relationships, versions of ourselves, things we keep clutching simply because letting go feels like betrayal. Yet what is the virtue in holding on when the very act of holding begins to wound both sides? Sometimes, staying does not save anyone. Sometimes, it only teaches two people how to hurt each other more beautifully. There comes a quiet moment when the heart knows what the mind keeps arguing against: this is no longer where I am meant to remain.
And perhaps that is when we must listen, not to the voices that tell us what we owe, what we should tolerate, or how much of ourselves we should sacrifice, but to the small, honest voice within that whispers, I want to be at peace. Choosing yourself does not always mean you love others less. Sometimes, it simply means you have finally understood that you cannot keep abandoning yourself just to prove that you care.
So let them call it selfishness.
If protecting your peace makes you selfish, be selfish.
If walking away from what breaks you makes you heartless, be heartless.
If choosing yourself makes you the villain in someone else's story, let them write you that way.
You do not have to destroy yourself to remain good in someone else's eyes.
Sometimes, the most loving thing you can do, for yourself and for the people you can no longer hold onto, is to loosen your grip, open your hands, and let what must leave, leave. And if freedom looks selfish from where they stand, then be selfish. Be free. Be happy.
Sometimes, letting go is considered wrong, because it does not fit into someone else’s idea of what we should endure. The moment we choose ourselves, our peace, our sanity over the expectations of others, we are often given names: selfish, narcissistic, heartless, inconsiderate. As though choosing not to drown with someone else is an act of cruelty. But perhaps we have been taught to confuse selflessness with self-destruction.
There are things we hold onto long after they have stopped belonging to us. People, memories, relationships, versions of ourselves, things we keep clutching simply because letting go feels like betrayal. Yet what is the virtue in holding on when the very act of holding begins to wound both sides? Sometimes, staying does not save anyone. Sometimes, it only teaches two people how to hurt each other more beautifully. There comes a quiet moment when the heart knows what the mind keeps arguing against: this is no longer where I am meant to remain.
And perhaps that is when we must listen, not to the voices that tell us what we owe, what we should tolerate, or how much of ourselves we should sacrifice, but to the small, honest voice within that whispers, I want to be at peace. Choosing yourself does not always mean you love others less. Sometimes, it simply means you have finally understood that you cannot keep abandoning yourself just to prove that you care.
So let them call it selfishness.
If protecting your peace makes you selfish, be selfish.
If walking away from what breaks you makes you heartless, be heartless.
If choosing yourself makes you the villain in someone else's story, let them write you that way.
You do not have to destroy yourself to remain good in someone else's eyes.
Sometimes, the most loving thing you can do, for yourself and for the people you can no longer hold onto, is to loosen your grip, open your hands, and let what must leave, leave. And if freedom looks selfish from where they stand, then be selfish. Be free. Be happy.
