In Thoughts

The Art of Letting Go



Everyone, and I mean everyone, knows that letting go is not an easy process especially when you have to let go of something you really want. Be it a great opportunity, someone you really loved or even any expectations you had about something. I, myself have had various experience where I had to let things I love the most slip out of my hand. 

Within this moment, you might have heard comments from your concerned friends - from "Don't worry, you'll get something better", "Allow yourself to feel the every inch of pain you're having now cause the more you feel, the faster you'll recover", down to "Time will heal". I am also familiar in the idea that when you lose something, you'll get something better in return. If you can't have it, what should you do next? You will be introduced a process called 'letting go'.



The process of letting go can come across as a dreadful process especially when you feel “stuck”. Should any of you reach this point, chances are you’ve been trying so hard to make everything works in your favor, or reach your goal, and it feels like you’ve tried so hard or come a long way that if you let go now, it will feel like a waste of time given the time and effort you have invested in it. It's also important to note that completely letting go and allowing ourselves to heal and look to the future with optimism and excitement can be difficult to achieve because we are so used to comfort that “what used to be” provided us. We become so hopeless where we would rather hang on to the past as if it had everything we ever wanted. We feel like we've given everything hence we deserve to get something in return. I also felt that way. But then a friend of mine said this to me - and I consider this as a huge wake up call for me. She said: 
"It's always good to expect. However, you should remember that although the amount of effort you've given was beyond anything you've ever given before, it's not for you to judge. It is for them to judge".
Another reason why we hold on to things or people longer than we should is because we convince ourselves that good things won’t happen twice; we will not be able to find someone who is that great again or who makes us feel this way again. Or we won’t be able to find a job like that again, or something we are that passionate about again. 

I realized that within the past few weeks before I lost it, I was trying so hard to stay in a place where I was not welcomed anymore. My mind had a clever of way of tricking me into believing certain things to make it less painful for me, or put it in a way that doesn’t really hurt my pride or heart, but eventually, I have to look at it the way it is, the way it is being portrayed to me, not the way I want to see it. If you experience it as well, worry not. It is not an optical illusion. It is the reality, and in reality what you see is what you get. If an opportunity passed you by, it didn’t really want to stop at your station, if someone let you go, they didn’t really want to stay, if someone else got what you were praying for, this blessing was not written for you to begin with and you will be blessed in another way.


The truth is if you reach a point where letting go is the only option, it usually means that this thing or someone already let you go.  As you keep learning the art of letting go, let go of your fear, of your past, of your mistakes, of your insecurities, of your failures, of your self-doubt. You are forced to forgive yourself enough to let go of the parts of you that dim your light.


Still reading? Good. Now coming to the hardest part..



Letting go is hard and we all know that. However, it's good to know that you will always find something or someone that makes you feel this way again, new passions will emerge and good things will happen twice and as many times as they want, and will probably be a better and more convenient fit for you. If you look back at your life, you will find yourself laughing at certain situations when you thought you would never move on from someone, or how you held on to something so tightly only to realize later that it was wrong for you. Great things happen to us all the time in different shapes or forms; we just like to focus on the things that are not so great. Holding on to something out of fear that it will never happen again, is the definition of fear. We have to be fearless in letting go.

Nothing is a waste of time, even if it feels like it is, we are here to make mistakes and learn lessons to grow as individuals, if we keep holding on to toxic situations or toxic people because we’ve already done too much or it’s too late to change things, we are only setting ourselves up for a miserable life. There is power in letting go, a power that brings more peace and serenity than being stuck in situations that make your heart a bit heavier each and every day.

Having this mentality or faith will help you overcome the reluctance that comes with making a decision of whether or not you should let go. Things that are meant for you have a way of flowing smoothly into your life. The more you fight for something that is not meant for you, the more it will fight you. You may get what you want in the end, but it may not last and you may not feel at ease with it. The beauty of things that are meant for you is that they just happen; against all odds. We are just programmed to complicate life sometimes.

Hence, these days I am practicing what I like to call 'lesspectations', where I expect less for everything that happens in my life. This doesn't mean that I become a pessimist, but because I believe that hope is the root cause of all problems. 

Good quote I found on the net:
“If you’re brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello.”
—Paulo Coelho

Forgive yourself, let it heal, and believe that everything will be alright. Stay strong.





See you in another post

Marcel


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In Thoughts

What it's really like to be an Ambivert



There is no such thing as a pure introvert or extrovert. Such a person would be in the lunatic asylum. ~ Carl G Jung

Introvert this, extrovert that; Not a day goes by that I don’t see an article that talks about the problems that these personality traits face. Well, what about us, the ambiverts?
I have been known as the lively, fully extroverted Marcel for the better part of my life; or at least I thought I was. Come to think of it, maybe I’ve been an introvert all of my life that pretends to be an extrovert? On the one hand, I thrive within the company of others. It energizes me, it gives me power, it gives me exuberance. However, when it ends and I'm all alone in my room, I just realize that "Hey, that level of interaction really drains me eh?" On other conditions, I love my quiet time alone to reflect or do my own thing, but guess what - all in a sudden with no warning whatsoever I feel lonely and my thoughts are all over the place which leads me to frantically looking for a bunch of mates that I could ask to hang out with. 
I never see myself “fit” into either category very well. Personality test results are always inconclusive for me. I appear to be all over the place. Funny thing is, the rest of my personality test stays the same, only the first letter which determines my personality changes - either I/E. After having some deep research on Google, it turns out that I am both an introvert and extrovert, (or maybe neither, depending on how you look at things). I’m not confused, I’m just an ambivert. The term “ambivert” maybe new to you, but it may also define and shed some light on your own personality traits.
To simplify it, an ambivert is a person who has both introvert and extrovert qualities and may bounce between the two.  Sounds a tad bi-polar, right? It can seem to be that way sometimes, but honestly it’s more of a need for balance. The ambivert loves social settings and being around others, but we also need our solitude. Too much time on either the introvert or extrovert side will make us moody and unhappy. Balance is the key for us ambiverts.
With that being said, being an ambivert can sometimes be a confusing to others - especially to my friends. Having both traits, I can sway too far in either direction rather easily. My behaviors are likely to change depending on the situation, and I can easily become what people like to call as “unbalanced.” One of the traits I really hate of myself is one day, I could enjoy the time of doing something… until I don’t. One day I could be all fun and happy, but the next day - I could be the moodiest person you've ever met.

Tiring? Of course. Challenging? Definitely. Confusing? Not really. Cause being an ambivert puts me “in the middle”, as a flexible creature. We have our personal preferences, of course, but we adjust pretty well in most situations (as long as we don’t stay there too long and get bored or unbalanced). We can work well alone or in groups. We can take charge or step down when the situation calls for it. We also have game plans in order for most things or potential problems that may arise.  On the down side, this level of flexibility can cause us to be indecisive - which I'm highly known for lol.
However, in my (almost) 24 years of existence as an ambivert, I've noticed that most Ambiverts have a good understanding of people and different surroundings/settings. We are highly intuitive and can sense the emotions of others while likely being able to relate to them in many ways. We aren’t afraid to talk, but we also like to observe and listen. We are likely to know when to help or stay back.
The truth is, personality goes way beyond a simple label, but having some understanding about the different traits can help you to understand yourself and others better and perhaps make you more successful in your daily life. So, if you can relate to the above, you just may be an ambivert too.
So, what are you? Lemme know on the comments below.

Till next post,
Marcel


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