17 Things Weighing You Down That You Need To Let Go Of If You Want To Fly

Have you ever tried running with a sack of potatoes on your back? Chances are that you’re doing it right now.

Just about everybody has things in their lives that weigh them down, preventing them from soaring, loving themselves and life the way it was meant to be loved.

The reason many birds can fly is that they are incredibly light.

You won’t be getting a set of hollow bones anytime soon, but taking a load off your mind can have a similar effect. Here are 17 things that may very well be weighing you down in life:

1. Your accustomed way of thinking.

When you’re stuck in a never-ending cycle, and you know that you’re stuck, the first things you should stop and examine are your thought processes. You may not even know that you’re capable of watching your thoughts from almost a third person’s perspective, but with practice, you’ll be able to.

Understanding the way you think and why you think the way you think is the first step to changing your life.

2. Your reality and perspective on life.

The way we think brings about the things we think about, what we believe, and how we view the world and life itself.

The way you see the world will differ (slightly or greatly) from your neighbor. We all have different memories.

We all learned different life lessons in different manners and have created our own theories on why and how life works the way it does. Unfortunately, our perspectives aren’t always accurate or helpful.

Yet, with enough focus, we can manipulate and mutate our realities to better serve our purpose.

3. All those minutes and hours that are wasted.

You waste time. I waste time. We all waste time. The trick is to minimize the time being wasted.

Don’t get this confused with the concept of filling every waking minute of each day with an activity. Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is lie down and watch the clouds float by.

4. Your past failures.

There has never been a person in existence who has not failed at something. Hell, even machines fail. Failing is a part of existing – there’s no need to be ashamed of it.

You make mistakes, you fail, and you hopefully learn from those failures.

However, while the lesson should never be forgotten, the failure itself cannot continue to weigh you down. Failures weigh heavy while lessons learned lift you up. It’s all a matter of putting things in perspective.

5. Your past life partners.

If your past relationships were failures and you officially decided to call it quits, then let go and move on with your life. Believe me when I tell you that I know very well how difficult this can be.

But if you don’t let them go then they will forever weigh down on your thoughts – a sort of self-induced torture that we simultaneously enjoy indulging in. Love is a beautiful sort of pain.

6. Those habits you hate, but have a difficult time getting rid of.

Many people have at least one habit we aren’t fond of, but have a difficult time letting go of.

If you want to lighten your load and make changes in your life for the better, then you’re going to need to drop these sorts of habits first and foremost.

7. Those habits you love, but you know they do you no good.

These are even harder to get rid of as they bring you joy. It may actually be more beneficial not to remove these habits entirely, but to simply limit how much we indulge in them.

Life is meant to be enjoyed… joy itself has many benefits. It may be a fair tradeoff – be honest with yourself and make the right decisions.

8. Wave after wave of useless information you allow to be stuffed down your throat.

We have so many outlets of "entertainment" and information that we are constantly overwhelmed. Most of the things you hear, see, and read get stored in your head – if only for a somewhat short period of time.

The fact that you are constantly processing this information is reason enough to cut yourself off.

You’re processing information that is essentially worthless – that takes time, energy and memory space. Avoid information overloads and you’ll literally feel lighter.

9. That job that makes you want to never wake up.

I’m not sure if having such a job is a necessary part of life – because it may be – but most of us find ourselves holding down such a job sooner or later.

Hopefully, you accept how much you loathe it as soon as possible and give in your notice before moving on to something that brings a smile to your face.

10. All those people that bring negativity into your life.

Sometimes it seems like the world is out to get you, doing its best to bring you down. The truth is that some people probably are, while most are simply spewing negativity because they feel like it.

Just avoid them whenever possible and limit their presence in your life otherwise.

11. That friend(s) who’s holding you back.

Sometimes you outgrow friends. Sometimes you or your friends change and no longer have too much in common. Sometimes your friends weren’t very good friends to begin with.

If you know they aren’t adding to your life, but only taking from it, then do yourself favor and stop carrying them.

12. False beliefs.

There are some beliefs that have little to no supporting facts. Then there are others that have plenty of supporting information and experience that still aren’t certain, that still aren’t actually facts.

Neither of these should be taken as facts, but should always be questioned.

It’s better not to believe anything that you don’t know for certain and even question those things that you do believe to be certain.

Always keep an open mind because much of what we once believed to be impossible is now part of our reality. You can hope all you want, but don’t believe blindly because it does you no good.

13. Your unhealthy lifestyle.

If you have an unhealthy lifestyle and you know you have an unhealthy lifestyle, then why do you choose to continue to live in such a way? Answer this first and then making changes should be easier.

Or… you may just decide that you don’t want to make any. At least you’ll accept your reality.

14. The need to constantly be moving, constantly be doing.

There are many ways to define life, but constantly being active and constantly filling your days with tasks isn’t one of them. Sometimes you need to take a breather and do nothing more than is minimally required to be considered alive.

15. Your pointless fears.

Some fears are necessary – the fear of dying from a 200-foot drop, fearing someone who is trying to hurt or kill you, fearing driving drunk and either killing someone and/or killing yourself… Fear was created in order to keep us alive.

It wasn’t created in order to keep you complacent and static.

There is always a chance of pain. There is always a chance of death. You have to gamble – when it comes to your life and health, play it safe. Otherwise, go all in.

16. Believing that stress is a bad thing.

Stress is sort of like an alarm system. It stirs you to action, to do something, to make changes. Stress is – according to easily accessible studies – good for you.

It only becomes bad for you when you believe that it is bad for you.

I know this may sound impossible, but our brain is so incredibly powerful that simply believing something is bad for us can make it bad for us. Use stress to your advantage and stop allowing it to weigh you down.

17. Your poor self-image.

You are you and will be you until there no longer is a you. You are great because you believe yourself to be great – and that’s enough. You don’t need to impress anyone else.

You sure as hell don’t need to live for anyone else.

Whatever you don’t like about yourself, you can change – but that doesn’t mean that you have to change it or should want to change it. You can do and be anything you want. It may not be easy, but it is possible. A possibility is all you need.

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