This is the Art of Letting Go

As published on ThoughtCatalog

It was a grey day, the air damp with drizzling rain. Head overflowing with thoughts that couldn’t be drowned out by the rain, I stopped by the coffee shop to work and found a spot facing out the window. I don’t know what made me glance up in that particular moment, but I did as he walked past across the street. Maybe he felt a certain energy too, because he turned his head, our eyes met, and a flicker of recognition lit up through his face. He smiled and raised the hand holding an iced black coffee, and my eyes followed him as he walked out of sight.

But it was in that second that I finally understood my mess of feelings. I was no longer angry; I had moved past that. It doesn’t mean I suddenly think it’s all okay or that I’ve forgotten what happened. It just means accepting what’s been done and forgiving the situation, because it’s not something I could have changed. Even after unplugging and draining out most of the toxicity, I’m still left in a puddle of bittersweet sadness, but I suppose that’s just life in general. And with this realization, a certain heaviness lifted as I let go of the metaphorical balloon that was what once was and watched it float away.

Nothing heals overnight. Not the flu, not even the smallest paper cut. But this was the first step – this is the art of letting go, and this is how I shall miss him no more.