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A Modern Way of Letting Go

I'd like to start 2012 with something more than a resolution. I want to keep this great piece of wisdom with me, found on this excellent list of 30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself:
Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot. Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth. And remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends.

I wish I understood this concept earlier in life, but that's the way things go. Who knows, maybe I was told this, but didn't understand back then. After matters of life happening in 2011, mixed with a lot of other things from the past five years, this is something I'd like to stick with in 2012.

In the past, there were people that I tried to engage with beyond a friendly greeting. Be it a neighbor or a co-worker, these people were in various aspects of my life. More often than not, these folks acted like they had better things to do than talk to me for more than a minute. Knowing what I know now, those people are, essentially, doing you a favor. They're saying with their body language and responses, "Don't get to know me too well because there's not much that I'm willing to show you."

Yet when it comes to people who were very important in my life at some point, letting go of them can be difficult. The amount of good memories I have usually trumps the amount of bad memories -- and I wondered why these people wanted a full, indefinite break from my life. Letting go of them is tough when thinking this way.

I'm not one to relish losing people close to me, but life takes them in different directions where it should be best they make a clean break. I shouldn't force myself into someone's life that isn't trying to force him or her's into mine.

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