It is hard to let go because we not only lose what we had hoped to gain but also the future that we thought would unfold.

Perhaps, it was an aspiration, a friendship, a relationship, a career or a way of life that we had envisaged. Months and even years of planning make something become linked to our expectations. To let something go means to accept that all these expectations will never be realized.

There is a phenomenon known as the sunk cost effect. In certain cases, we could become very fond of something not just because we liked it but also because we have already put so much work into it and our subconscious might tell us, "I have come this far, so there is no point in stopping."

But the time we have already spent cannot be undone regardless of whether we continue or quit.

Sometimes when we hold onto something does not necessarily mean that we desire it anymore.

Sometimes it simply means that it used to mean a lot to us.

However, I do not think that moving on means making a mistake.

There are things that might be very significant for us but do not fit into our future at all. This might be one of the most difficult things to realize.

In most cases, we consider letting go as quitting but in some cases, it may be about accepting reality. Our circumstances change, our goals change, we ourselves change.

And it is absolutely fine.

We should not go after some things just because we used to be very keen on those things when we were other people.

Memories, efforts and lessons gained will not go away because of changing our mind about something; they will only become our past experience.

What I see as the main challenge here is distinguishing what we want now and what we pursue because we used to want it.

Letting go of something might be difficult because it might mean giving up the future we wanted.

But it allows us to move forward and get new chances, new opportunities  maybe not better but surely more suitable for our current life.