{"id":5527,"date":"2026-04-08T11:50:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T11:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/?p=5527"},"modified":"2026-04-08T11:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T11:50:10","slug":"powerful-ways-of-letting-go-even-it-deeply-hurts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/powerful-ways-of-letting-go-even-it-deeply-hurts\/","title":{"rendered":"Powerful ways of letting go even it deeply hurts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I used to believe that love, if it was real enough, would always stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That if you gave someone your whole heart,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you were patient, understanding, and willing to fight for it,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then somehow, things would work out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I believed love was the answer to everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The glue. The reason to hold on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I held on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I held on to conversations that started to feel forced.<br>To laughter that didn\u2019t come as easily anymore.<br>To a version of us that existed more in my memories than in reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I told myself this is what love does, it stays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even when it hurts. Even when it feels heavy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even when you\u2019re the only one carrying it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But over time, something shifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not suddenly. Not dramatically. Just quietly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I started to notice the gaps. The silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The effort it took just to keep things from falling apart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I noticed how often I was shrinking parts of myself just to maintain peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And one day, I had to face a truth I could no longer ignore:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was still loving you, but I was losing myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that realization changed everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because love, real love, was never meant to cost you who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was never supposed to feel like you had to choose between holding on to someone else and holding on to yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I sat with that truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it hurt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not in a loud, dramatic way, but in a quiet, constant ache.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The kind that follows you through your day and always in your thoughts at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because the hardest part isn\u2019t letting go of the person,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>it\u2019s letting go of what you hoped it could be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The future you imagined.<br>The plans you built without even realizing it.<br>The belief that this was something that would last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Letting go of that\u2026 is its own kind of grief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But somewhere in that pain, there is also clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I began to understand that love, as powerful as it is, is not always enough to make two people right for each other. And that truth, as heavy as it feels, is also freeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because it means walking away isn\u2019t failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s awareness.<br>It\u2019s growth.<br>It\u2019s choosing to listen to yourself when something no longer feels right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Letting go didn\u2019t mean I stopped loving you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It didn\u2019t erase the memories or make them meaningless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It didn\u2019t undo what we shared. It simply meant I stopped holding on to something that was no longer nurturing me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\u2019s an important distinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because some connections aren\u2019t meant to last forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some are meant to teach you something about love, about boundaries, about yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They are chapters, not lifetimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And you are allowed to turn the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even if it hurts.<br>Even if you still care.<br>Even if part of you wishes things were different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You are allowed to choose yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That isn\u2019t selfish. And it isn\u2019t betrayal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s understanding that peace is not something you should have to fight for every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That love should not feel like constant confusion or emotional exhaustion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And yes, letting go comes with its own kind of pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There will be moments when you miss them unexpectedly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When something reminds you of what you had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you question whether you made the right choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But missing someone doesn\u2019t mean you should go back to what no longer works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It just means what you shared mattered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can honor that without holding on to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can carry the love with you, gently, without letting it weigh you down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because at the end of the day, choosing peace over chaos is never the wrong decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even when it costs you someone you truly loved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/r\/18FELkpLnC\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/r\/18FELkpLnC<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Dear young person I understand spoken word by Walking shadow poetry| Poetry\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pBFduBMYxGg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I used to believe that love, if it was real enough, would always stay. That if you gave someone your whole heart, If you were patient, understanding, and willing to fight for it, Then somehow, things would work out. I believed love was the answer to everything. The glue. The reason to hold on. So [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[136,133,121,97,25,98],"tags":[35,49,34,67,61,55,53,22,48],"class_list":["post-5527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-entertainment","category-poem","category-poetry","category-solitude","category-storytime","tag-poems","tag-poetess","tag-poetry","tag-preciousowoko","tag-spokenwords","tag-stories","tag-story","tag-walkingshadowpoetry","tag-walkingshadowpoetrykenya"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/images.jpeg?fit=201%2C251&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2645,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/its-okay-to-walk-away-by-walking-shadow-poetry\/","url_meta":{"origin":5527,"position":0},"title":"It\u2019s okay to walk away by walking shadow poetry","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"September 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I know it hurts,I see the way you\u2019ve been holding on,to a love that once felt so certain,to a person who used to feel like home.But now you're left wondering,in the silence that never speaks,in the missed calls,the unread texts,the empty spaces they leave behind. You\u2019ve asked the questions,softly, carefully,\u201cIs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;POETRY&quot;","block_context":{"text":"POETRY","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/SPOKENWORDSandMODERNDAYPOETRY\/poetry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"black woman in blouse and jeans walking","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pexels-photo-5214265.jpeg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pexels-photo-5214265.jpeg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pexels-photo-5214265.jpeg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pexels-photo-5214265.jpeg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3422,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/losing-you-hurts-so-much-my-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":5527,"position":1},"title":"Losing you hurts so much my love&#8230;","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"September 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I hear your words, look at your pictures online every chance I get.and every line feels like a mirror I\u2019ve been running from.Yes,you\u2019re right.I lost you. I lost the girl who gave me more than I deserved,the one who fought for me while I was busy fighting my own pride.I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;poem&quot;","block_context":{"text":"poem","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/SPOKENWORDSandMODERNDAYPOETRY\/poem\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"walkingshadowpoetry","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0L2A9324-scaled.jpg?fit=750%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0L2A9324-scaled.jpg?fit=750%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0L2A9324-scaled.jpg?fit=750%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0L2A9324-scaled.jpg?fit=750%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3146,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/when-its-time-to-stop-chasing-people-spoken-word\/","url_meta":{"origin":5527,"position":2},"title":"When It&#8217;s Time to Stop Chasing People | Spoken Word.","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"March 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"You\u2019ve called\u2026But no one\u2019s picking up.You\u2019ve sent messages,Words full of hope, full of heart,Yet, the silence is the only thing that speaks back.And it\u2019s not once, not twice,It\u2019s every time you reach out,Trying to prove they matter in your world. And quietly, you\u2019ve been pleading,Not with your words, but with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;poem&quot;","block_context":{"text":"poem","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/SPOKENWORDSandMODERNDAYPOETRY\/poem\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3565ae6370fcdf27ddf9c059fd01ad27.jpg?fit=236%2C330&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2694,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/let-go-and-love-yourself-by-walking-shadow-poetry\/","url_meta":{"origin":5527,"position":3},"title":"Let Go and Love Yourself by walking shadow poetry.","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"September 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I know you\u2019ve been waiting,Hoping, wishing they\u2019d see,That all you ever neededWas their time, their love, just to be. But every call feels forced,Every moment, a fight,You're begging for attention,And it doesn\u2019t feel right. I see how hard you\u2019re trying,To hold onto this thread,But love isn\u2019t meant to be one-sided,It\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;POETRY&quot;","block_context":{"text":"POETRY","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/SPOKENWORDSandMODERNDAYPOETRY\/poetry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"anonymous woman demonstrating burning paper sheet with title","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pexels-photo-5323336.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pexels-photo-5323336.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pexels-photo-5323336.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pexels-photo-5323336.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pexels-photo-5323336.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3497,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/let-me-tell-you-the-kind-of-love-i-want\/","url_meta":{"origin":5527,"position":4},"title":"\u00a0\u201cLet Me Tell You the Kind of Love I Want\u201d","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"January 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Let me tell youthe kind of love I want. Not the loud kind.Not the one that hurts and then apologizes.Not the one that makes me feel like I\u2019m too muchfor asking to be treated gently. I want a patient love.The kind that waits.The kind that doesn\u2019t rush my healingor punish\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;poem&quot;","block_context":{"text":"poem","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/SPOKENWORDSandMODERNDAYPOETRY\/poem\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/xacEsG4Cyfg\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3220,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/they-stopped-choosing-you-by-walking-shadow-poetry\/","url_meta":{"origin":5527,"position":5},"title":"They stopped choosing you by walking shadow poetry","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"April 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"They might just fade away\u2026Not with fireworks or grand announcements,Not with explanations that wrap everything up with a neat bow,But with a silence that sneaks in slowly,A silence that starts small, missed calls, shorter texts, longer gaps,Until one day, you realize it's not silence anymore... it's absence At first, you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;poem&quot;","block_context":{"text":"poem","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/SPOKENWORDSandMODERNDAYPOETRY\/poem\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"man punching gray wall","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/pexels-photo-3754243.jpeg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/pexels-photo-3754243.jpeg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/pexels-photo-3754243.jpeg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/pexels-photo-3754243.jpeg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5527"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5529,"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5527\/revisions\/5529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}