LookCatalog

50 Quotes To Ease Your Conflicted Heart And Give You The Strength To Leave The Past Behind

It's not easy to know where you're supposed to go, who you're destined to become, or whom you're meant to give your heart to. Life leaves us with so many choices, so many decisions to make, and so many paralyzing fears. Letting go is an art, a painfu
Marisa Donnelly
July 9, 2016
“While saying goodbye does mean accepting that a part of our life is now over, it also provides us with a chance to realize just how blessed our lives have been.To look back and reflect on the journeys we’ve shared with some wonderful people, while being exposed to amazing and invaluable experiences we often take for granted.”
— Craig James Ruvere, If It’s Hard to Say Goodbye, Your Life’s Been Truly Blessed
Tagged: Goodbyes, Letting Go, Blessings
“This is my acceptance that the best things are never straightforward and that I want you to take whatever crooked, twisted path you need to take if it will lead you towards your dreams.”
— Heidi Priebe, This Is Me Letting You Go
Tagged: Letting Go, Moving On
“Until we have begun to go without them, we fail to realize how unnecessary many things are. We've been using them not because we needed them but because we had them.”
— Seneca, Letters from a Stoic
Tagged: Philosophy, How To Think, The Art of Awareness, Minimalism & Simplicity
“Don't cling to things because everything is impermanent.”
— Mitch Albom, Tuesdays With Morrie
Tagged: Letting Go, Life, Moving On, Acceptance, Knowledge
“Remember that you were art long before he came to admire you, and you'll continue to be art even when he's gone.”
— Charlotte Geier, via Tumblr
Tagged: After Him, After Love, Moving On, Letting Go, You Are Art, Self-Love
“I don’t believe in goodbyes.

I don’t believe that the connections we have to people and things are temporary. That somewhere along the way they cease to exist, cease to carry meaning, cease to be something real. 

Because no matter the time, the distance, the loss in our life, they will forever carry weight. 

A goodbye implies that there is an end. And in human connections, in love, in life, there is no end. 

Just a transference to something else—new love, new connections, new relationships, a rebirth.”
— Marisa Donnelly, I Don’t Believe In Goodbyes
Tagged: Saying Goodbye, Losing A Loved One, Falling Out Of Love, Losing Love, The End Is Not The End
“That is why it is so important to let certain things go. To release them. To cut loose. People need to understand that no one is playing with marked cards; sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Don't expect to get anything back, don't expect recognition for your efforts, don't expect your genius to be discovered or your love to be understood. Complete the circle. Not out of pride, inability or arrogance, but simply because whatever it is no longer fits in your life. Close the door, change the record, clean the house, get rid of the dust. Stop being who you were and become who you are.”
— Paulo Coelho, The Zahir
Tagged: Letting Go, Change, Starting Over, Consequence, Blame, Empowering, Self-Direction, Fate
“I have learned that when sadness comes to visit me, all I can do is say “I see you.” I spend some time with it, get up, and say goodbye. I don’t push it away, I own it. And because I own it, I let it go.”
— Carolina Zacaria, The Artidote
Tagged: Depression, Sad, Letting Go, Acceptance, Healing, goodbye
“There ain’t no way you can hold onto something that wants to go, you understand? You can only love what you got while you got it.”
— Kate DiCamillo, Because Of Winn-Dixie
Tagged: Love, Leaving, Saying Goodbye, Holding On, Relationships
“Forget what we became, what matters is what we've become, and our potentials to overcome.”
— Aniekee Tochukwu, The Psychology of Friendship For Leadership
Tagged: The Art of Awareness, How To Think, Psychology, Philosophy
“Sometimes you’re going to have to let one person go a thousand different times, a thousand different ways, and there’s nothing pathetic or abnormal about that. You are human. ”
— Heidi Priebe, Read This If You Feel Like It's Taking You Too Long To Move On
Tagged: Letting Go, On Letting Go, When Someone Leaves, Losing The One You Love, Learning To Let Go, Loss, Moving On
“I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where I am going. And I have trained myself to love it. Because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air with no landing in sight, that we force our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight. And as we fly, we still may not know where we are going to. But the miracle is in the unfolding of the wings. You may not know where you're going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the winds will carry you.”
— C. Joybell C., Lost
“Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past, and is therefore the means for correcting our misperceptions.”
— Gerald G. Jampolsky, Love Is Letting Go of Fear
Tagged: How To Think, The Art of Awareness, Psychology, Philosophy
“Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You've got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it. It's like boats. You keep your motor on so you can steer with the current. And when you hear the sound of the waterfall coming nearer and nearer, tidy up the boat, put on your best tie and hat, and smoke a cigar right up till the moment you go over. That's a triumph.”
— Ray Bradbury, Farewell Summer
Tagged: How To Think, The Art of Awareness, Psychology, Philosophy
“Sometimes I think there are only two instructions we need to follow to develop and deepen our spiritual life: slow down and let go.”
— Oriah Mountain Dreamer, The Dance: Moving To the Rhythms of Your True Self
Tagged: How To Think, The Art of Awareness
“You aren't letting go of a person, or a place, or even a thing – you're letting go of your thoughts about it, or what it would be. And learning how to let go of your thoughts is the most powerful thing there is. It's how you get over fear, loss, panic, pain, judgment, and all the rest. 

Everything exists in a constant cycle of gain and release. Find and lose. Use then purge. Everything. You aren't just letting go of one thing, and leaving your life an empty, bottomless abyss. You're just moving from one thing to the next, and if you quiet yourself enough, you'll be able to hear why. ”
— Brianna Wiest, Gain & Release
Tagged: The Art of Awareness, How To Think
“To ‘let go’ sometimes makes us feel like losers because it means giving up what truly we felt we had a right to. But true strength lies in resisting the urge to hold onto things and people that bring us down.”
— Chinonye J. Chidolue, Peregrine Reads
Tagged: How To Think, The Art of Awareness, Psychology, Philosophy
“Once you realize that life and love are not things you can possess but forces that emanate through us and through all creation, then you can begin to appreciate the miracle you are a part of. You can release the burden and appreciate what you have had, have now and will have. Only trying to hold on to what you do not have causes pain. Letting go permits you to experience the incredible joy that comes to you at each and every moment.”
— James Rozoff, Seven Stones
Tagged: How To Think, The Art of Awareness, Psychology, Philosophy
“A leaf does not resist the breeze. A goose does not resist the urge to fly down south. Is this not happiness? Is this not freedom? To access this incredible state, we need only one thing: Trust. Trust that, when you are not holding yourself together so tightly, you will not fall apart. Trust that it is more important to fulfill your authentic desires than listen to your fears. Trust that your intuition is leading you somewhere. Trust that the flow of life contains you, is bigger than you, and will take care of you - if you let it.”
— Vironika Tugaleva, The Love Mindset
Tagged: How To Think, The Art of Awareness, Psychology, Philosophy
“Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead let life live through you. And do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come?”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Love, Life, Challenges, Obstacles, Optimism, Faith, The Forty Rules Of Love, Rumi, Elif Shafak
“Don’t get caught up in your story. When bad things happen, it’s very easy to get caught up in the drama. We can get a lot of things from repeating our story to others such as sympathy, support, and encouragement. But wallowing in that story keeps you living in the past and not focused on being present to what’s in front of you right now.”
— Afi Harrington, When Things Go Wrong: 5 Tips for Navigating Your “Why Me” Moments
Tagged: Life, Bad Moments, Positive Thinking, Moving On, Letting Go
“This is how bad stories end. But it's also how the best stories begin.”
— Iain Thomas, I Wrote This For You
Tagged: Endings, Beginnings, Pain, Starting Over, Letting Go, Moving On, Moving Forward
“Most things will be okay eventually, but not everything will be. Sometimes you’ll put up a good fight and lose. Sometimes you’ll hold on really hard and realize there is no choice but to let go. Acceptance is a small, quiet room.”
— Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar
Tagged: Reality, Acceptance, Holding On, Letting Go, Life, Love
“Go, even though you love him.
Go, even though he is kind and faithful and dear to you.
Go, even though he's your best friend and you're his.
Go, even though you can't imagine your life without him.
Go, even though he adores you and your leaving will devastate him.
Go, even though your friends will be disappointed or surprised or pissed off or all three.
Go, even though you once said you would stay.
Go, even though you're afraid of being alone.
Go, even though you're sure no one will ever love you as well as he does.
Go, even though there is nowhere to go.
Go, even though you don't know exactly why you can't stay.
Go, because you want to.
Because wanting to leave is enough.”
— Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar
Tagged: Love, Relationships, Leaving, Breakups, Letting Go
“Decide what your currency is early. Let go of what you will never have. People who do this are happier and sexier.”
— Amy Poehler, Yes Please
Tagged: currency, Happiness, sexiness, Life, Self-awareness, Letting Go
“In the future, your relationships have all ended. Your body is dirt. Your possessions are buried, burned, or recycled after eons have passed. In the big picture of time, you’ve already lost everything. Fear of loss is clinging to what is already gone.”
— Derek Doepker, Break Through Your BS: Uncover Your Brain's Blind Spots and Unleash Your Inner Greatness
Tagged: Possession, Loss, Letting Go
“And even when you fear that the whole world knows too much, or that you’ve revealed your deepest secrets, or that you’ve given away a huge chunk of yourself only to be broken again—close your eyes, take a deep breath, and let go. This is the beauty of vulnerability. It’s standing on the edge of a cliff with the definite possibility of falling, but giving away your heart anyways, because there’s an even bigger chance of the wind grabbing ahold of you, and you learning to fly.”
— Marisa Donnelly, This Is For The Girls Who Aren’t Afraid To Be Vulnerable
Tagged: vulnerability, Love, Fearless, Letting Go
“Sometimes people let the same problem make them miserable for years when they could just say, 'So what'. That's one of my favorite things to say. So what.”
— Andy Warhol, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again)
Tagged: Problems, emotions, Failure, Moving On, Letting Go, Moving Forward, Change, Making Change
“Before you can live a part of you has to die. You have to let go of what could have been, how you should have acted and what you wish you would have said differently. You have to accept that you can’t change the past experiences, opinions of others at that moment in time or outcomes from their choices or yours. When you finally recognize that truth then you will understand the true meaning of forgiveness of yourself and others. From this point you will finally be free.”
— Shannon L. Alder, 300 Questions LDS Couples Should Ask Before Marriage
Tagged: Letting Go, Moving On
“Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny.”
— Steve Maraboli, Life, The Truth, and Being Free
Tagged: Moving On, Letting Go