I am sure all of us have heard the saying "better late than sorry" but as I go through life, I am starting to realize there are some faults with this belief. I used to give myself such a hard time for not reaching out to old friends. I would tell myself that I would always regret not reconnecting... and maybe I will.
But I have also come to the conclusion that we grew apart for a reason and that reaching out isn't so necessary. The truth is, I would not have become the person I am today if I were still friends with some of those people.
This isn't about skipping class or work... you still need to put effort into those things. This is more about relationships, plans, etc. I tend to beat myself up about the things I give up on. I tell myself that I am not ambitious or determined enough to hold on to things... but that is just not true.
We need to stop fretting about things in our past. Most likely, they are where they belong. That person who seemed to just slip through our fingers haunts us. We wish that we would have tried harder or been more open. But maybe that person slipped through our fingers because they were not meant to be held on to.
Katy Perry was not wrong in saying that people have that "One that got away" but that is not EVERYONE that we let go of. The ones that get away remind us that we have yet to meet the one that stays. This is a crucial understanding we must make before being ready for that part of our life... and we can't do that if we are still regretting people in our past.
It seems like everyone knows those two people that go back and forth ALL THE TIME. I went to high school with a couple that broke up what seemed like 50 times. They pretty much became a joke. They had become so familiar that they could not find a way to truly say goodbye to what they had become accustomed to.
FINALLY, they broke up... for good. Now, they are both in college and in relationships they can hold on to. If they had not realized that their time had passed, they would still be stuck in that cycle.
Growing up, I identified myself with sports. Playing Sports was part of my everyday life. Up until high school, I was playing four sports every year. If you were to ask me in 6th grade if I would be playing my whole life, it would have been a definite yes. Now, here I am, in college, not having touched a soccer ball since freshman year of high school and no longer playing sports.
Of course, I still like being around sports, that is something that will always be a part of me. I just went into a different phase of my life and found other things to do with my time. I coached track and take every opportunity I can to teach kids how to play basketball, I simply have a different role now, and that is okay.
Reflecting on my life thus far, I am most thankful for the things I did let go of. Weird, right? Honestly, those big changes I made in my life were crucial. Completely switching up my friends in the middle of high school led me down a path of success and good decisions.
Letting go of people that were not good for me saved me the trouble of confusing relationships and heartbreak. I am now studying something in school I would have never imagined I would have chosen. But I am thriving in my classes and actually ENJOYING my schoolwork. Change can be scary. Growing out of the familiar is unnerving. But it is also uplifting and refreshing. Embrace it.
Just think about how much we could all accomplish if we spent more time on the things we have passion for instead of torturing ourselves with guilt over the things we have let go of.
