Letting go....

I was thinking today about how hard it is to let things go.  Our lives are fluid and things move in and out of them all the time.  It is the letting go of things that keep us from moving forward seem to be the hardest for those things to let go.  They are part of our lives and if we let them go we will be removing a part of that life.  I was thinking of this over the past few days as I've been cleaning some things out.  Why is it so hard to let go of the baby clothes my kids wore?  Believe me they aren't going to fit in them any more but yet I hold on to them for the warm memories they bring.  Of course I let them go because I don't want to end up on an episode of hoarders.
I need to let go of some clothes that don't fit anymore.  In a good way.  I lost some weight and these pants are too big but I still haven't let them go!  Why not?  I think it is a fear of failure.  I've gained and lost so many times I'm afraid I'll gain and I'll need them again.  Its crazy when I think about it, holding on to these clothes reflects my lack of confidence in myself.
When I think of letting go the most for me it really goes a long with my emotions.  There have been so many times when people have said "Just let it go, get over it".  I have such a hard time letting go of my feelings.  Sometimes I wrap my grudges around me like a warm blanket.  I think eventually I do let it go but there is always a little piece that lingers.
I think a lot of people have trouble letting things go, just by looking at people's friends lists on Facebook. I know people who are friends with everyone they have ever met.  Do you really need to socially network with 900 other people on a daily basis?  Sure when we signed up it was new and novel so you did friend everyone but over time your life changes and some people just don't go with the flow of your life.
I recently removed a friend from my list. Actually this person was one of my best friends about 10 years ago but life happens and friendships end.  I found her on Facebook and friended her.  I had high hopes for the possibilities.  Facebook will bring us back together, we will be part of eachothers' lives again.  Facebook will bridge the gap that a move across the country created.  Nope, instead I just got to read all about how life has moved on for her and all the awesome things that are now happening without me in it.  Of course life has moved on for me too.  I have wonderful friends and an awesome family.  I do miss the friendship I had and unfortunately Facebook was not the great bridge I had hoped it would be.  When I read her posts, I felt sad about the friendship that was now lost to me.  Regretfully I let it go, I admitted defeat and removed her from my list.  We outgrow clothes, we outgrow bad hairstyles, we outgrow friendships.  I guess like everything else the key is knowing when to let it go so we can move on and grow ourselves.