Okay, sorry to start off with yet ANOTHER Taylor Swift quote, but I really can’t help it. I’ve been through some very tough times and Taylor was always the glue that kind of held me together. This quote comes from a poem, and it applied so perfectly to my situation a few months ago that I took that quote and RAN. Sprinted, even. So I figured I should share it with the world. 😁 The last year for me has been many lessons on moving on, self-forgiveness and perseverance. I won’t go into too much detail, but pretty much everything that could have gone wrong during my freshman year of college went wrong, and I found myself at rock bottom. Life completely knocked me on my ass and I had to figure out some way to get up when it felt impossible. Like, seriously impossible. I won’t say the quote got me through it, but it was a good starting point! Here’s why:
The quote in question:
“And if you drive the roads of this town
Ones you’ve gone down so many times before
Flashback to all the times
Life nearly ran you off the road
But tonight your hand is steady
Suddenly you’ll know
The trick to holding on
Was all that letting go”
- Taylor Swift
The trick to holding on was all that letting go.
Life knocks us all down at some point or another. There’s no avoiding it. And I think one of the hardest parts of it is the guilt or shame you feel when you screw up. It sucks to feel the weight of the past on your shoulders. It’s actually so, so hard when all you want is to move on, but you just can’t. No matter where you’ve been or what you’ve been through, it’s safe to say that time heals everything. But while you’re waiting for the time to pass, it still doesn’t feel very good. You might be frustrated that you still feel the way you do. You might be discouraged. I know I was! When a few months passed and I was still upset about something that seemed so long ago, I was honestly pretty angry. But a few months into my healing process I found this poem, and when I read the words, “The trick to holding on was all that letting go,” it was almost like my perspective completely changed. I’ve learned so much since then and feel it’s only right to share it with you!
The first step to moving on is to accept what happened. It’s not easy by any means, but at least acknowledging where you are in life is a great step forward. Like okay, I’m down pretty bad … but now what? I know for me I almost didn’t want to accept it, because that would mean that I really had hit rock bottom and I really had to start over. But that’s okay. Being hesitant to accept that life sucks is pretty normal. I mean, who wants to admit that life just knocked them on their ass? Not me! But once you do, you at least have a starting point. If you ever want a chance at forgiveness or healing, you first just have to accept it.
And then, you can let it go. I mean, you might have to let the acceptance sink in for a while. Maybe for a few days, or weeks, or months. It doesn’t matter how long you sit in acceptance as long as you did. But eventually, you do have to let it go. Life goes on, and no matter what you go through or how low life gets for you, there’s always more in store. The longer you dwell on the past, the longer you’re avoiding what life has to offer you now. Bad things happen to everyone. Everyone hits rock bottom. It doesn’t take away from who you are or who you’re meant to be. It’s just life. So if you feel stuck in the past or discouraged in your healing process, I would encourage you to at least consider that the trick to holding on is alllll that letting go :)
All my love,
Kait