Maybe it’s a sport, a hobby, an occupation, or even maybe a person. Have you ever fallen out of love with something, or even someone that you once loved more than anything in the world? Maybe you used to absolutely love being a teacher, but now every school year just drags on as you are held on by a thin, withering string. Maybe playing the piano once gave you a high like no other, but now you just walk passed your dusty old keys as if you’ve never even known how to play. On the other hand, maybe it’s a person you have fallen out of love for, a sport, or anything else. For me, I am beginning to fall out of love for fitness.

Fitness has always been a priority of mine from a young age. I have always loved eating healthy and nutritious foods, I loved spending my free time being active through sports or backyard play, and I have always had a well-rounded understanding of a healthy lifestyle; the lifestyle I knew I would always want to live. With that being said, of course I still want to live a healthy lifestyle, everyone should. Unfortunately, working out for me gets harder and harder every day. Not because I am lazy or tired, but just as a runner gets tired of running, I am simply tired of pushing my body to uncomfortable limits day after day. I no longer find the challenges fun. Maybe it’s because I do intense workouts rather than a simple jog or easy life, but either way, I once loved these challenges and I can feel myself no longer thriving off of them.

Falling out of love for something that once meant so much or preoccupied so much time is not an easy thing to go through. You so badly want to love that hobby, sport, or person the way that you once did, but you just can’t and you just don’t. Most of us tell ourselves we just need a break from whatever it may be that is draining us, but when we return with high hopes of finding that feeling of absolute gratitude it once provided us with, we tend to be let down. Unfortunately, what I am coming to learn is that falling out of things from our past is simply just a part of life.

As humans, we change throughout our lifetime. Psychologists say that our personalities tend not to change from one’s childhood into their adult years, but bits and pieces of us do in fact change. Other than the obvious physical changes, our tastes for different foods change, our fashion styles changes, our motives in life change, and our likes and dislikes for all sorts of things change. Change is normal, it’s natural and almost an inevitable thing to go through. With that being said, for those who have or who currently are falling out of love for something that was once important to you and who you are, it’s okay. It may take some time to admit that you no longer love teaching, running, singing, math, etcetera, but just know that it is OK to let go of old hobbies and make room for new ones.

Change can be scary, and losing something or someone that once partially defined who we are as an individual can be painful. You never wanted to lose the fun in the hobby or lose the love you shared with a person, but sometimes it just happens. Typically, we tend to try and talk ourselves into better judgment and try to force our love back into running, teaching, singing, etc, but in the end, this usually only makes matters worse. Falling out of love for something that once meant so much leaves you feeling empty, almost lost. You so badly want to love the way you used to, but no matter how hard you try, you just can’t. All of a sudden, your run feels off, your singing voice is scratchy, and you can literally feel your body telling you,”I’m sorry but I just don’t like this anymore. Please just stop.” It’s almost as if the entire person that you used to be is now gone.

Using my loss of fitness as an example, I have come to learn that there are several alternatives to make me just as happy. Yes, I have put endless hours of time and energy into my fitness life from running miles to tearing my shins apart on box jumps, and even tearing skin off of my hands on endless rope climbs, but that time was not wasted. At those moments, those pains gave me a high nothing else could, just the way music makes musicians feel or the way painting gives an artist an immense feeling of life. Maybe someone losing enjoyment with painting can give music a try, or a runner falling out of running can try swimming instead. All in all, falling out of love for anything whether it be a hobby of making jewelry or even as dramatic as a soul mate, is not an easy thing to go through, but it is natural and it is OK