If you weren't given permission to be sad or grieve the things you lost growing up, it makes it harder to let go of things as an adult.

When my son finished 4th grade, many of the kids cried and hugged on the last day of school. They loved their class and their teacher who cultivated a wonderful culture of kindness in the classroom and they knew they were saying goodbye to something special. ​​​​​​​​
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Some of us parents were chatting about this and thought it was wonderful that the kids were able to express their emotions and grieve the end of a great school year and it made me think about my childhood and whether or not I grieved for any of the things I lost. ​​​​​​​​
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In my household, we weren’t allowed to express or talk much about anything, even when traumatic things happened, and I think when we grow up in these types of households, you end up as an adult has a harder time letting go. We tend to hang on to things, situations, people, etc. much longer than we should. ​​​​​​​​
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Grieving for things, big or little, is such an important part of life. As John Bradshaw said, “Everything you have ever done has ended. Life is a prolonged farewell. Grief is the process that finishes things… So to live well is to grieve well.” ​​​​​​​​

Photo by Kasuma on Pexels. 
all emotions are valid grief and letting go grief and loss letting go permission to grieve sadness