Learning to Let Go and Move On

A week ago I finished my fourth year of college. In that year, I experienced a break-up, and then later found a new love. These two experiences resulted in not only the formation of new friends, but also the leaving behind of those that were associated with my ex. Through this, I’ve learned to let go and move on from those who I need to move on from.

One of the hardest things in life can be watching those closest to you leave. Regardless as to if it’s a loved one passing on, moving away, or simply a falling out, it’s important to remember how they made you feel at certain times in your life, when they brought you joy. The amount of time spent together should be considered irrelevant.

For me, my “list” of friends changed drastically this year. Although my closest few friends remained intact, most everyone else seemed to change. However, why should this be seen as a negative? Afterall, meeting new people can be fun, exciting, and serve as a potential for making life-long friendships.

Friends come and go. That’s just life. And although we shouldn’t be concerned with how long they last, most of us are. We want to know that when we make a connection, it will remain intact for the long run.

For me, I had a different view at the end of this year than from years before when saying good-bye. For instance, I was fortunate to have a great roommate and two great suite mates this year. When the school year ended, however, I knew that would be the end of us hanging out again as a close group. One of the suite mates was graduating, another was moving off campus, and the other joined a fraternity. We were all living in different places, and for that reason, I knew we wouldn’t hang out again as a group next year, or any other year.

The time had come for us to move on. However, it would no longer be hard to bare as with similar instances of the past, for we had a reason to celebrate. Nine months together had been a blast. The experience became a blessing, and now served as time to experience the next blessing of our lives. On that note, and for that reason, I can honestly claim I'm excited for the road ahead.