Comments on: Walk Away

By: Jannie Funster

Jannie Funster — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:34:18 +0000

Erin Prais Hintz has steered me very very well to this beautiful post and your insightful writing. Thank you. And thank Erin.

I actually think I’m pretty good at knowing when to leave something and go to me, job-wise, relationship-wise. However, I’m in a bit of a mini quandary these days over something related to a plan for my blog, almost too minimal to bother anyone with here in the grande scheme. But , I trust that with good intentions and love il. Come through with flying colors on it.

Thank you for your light.

By: BigLittleWolf

BigLittleWolf — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:22:08 +0000

Wonderful post. There are always things we must walk away from. Sometimes we don’t know it soon enough. But eventually, we realize. And are better off from having walked away.

By: Lindsey

Lindsey — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:25:17 +0000

Thank you – lovely. I have such a hard time seeing the thing I’m walking towards, but I utterly agree with you that there is great power in doing so. One of the reasons I’ve made the choices I’ve made in life (I see now) is because of my fervent fear of closing doors, shutting down options. If only I had been mature enough to see that actually I was also opening new ones, finding new things to walk towards.
Thank you.

By: Nicki

Nicki — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:37:16 +0000

Aidan – I read this yesterday and couldn’t put words to what I was thinking. Then, I came back today and TKW’s comment. She is right. Not always, but as a general rule, with age, it has become easier to let go and walk away.

I am still thinking more on this but TKW expressed what I was thinking since yesterday.

By: Adrienne

Adrienne — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:44:12 +0000

This is such a timely post for me. I just walked away from a relationship that, while I knew it wasn’t quite right for me, I couldn’t let go of out of fear. It took the fact of a terrible lie from the other party for me to finally bite the bullet and end it, and I’m still reeling from the aftershocks. I know this will be better for me in the long run, but part of me still doubts, still wonders if I could have made it work despite the deal-breaking lie.

Isn’t that crazy? The status quo, despite being familiar and comfortable, was also stress- and depression-inducing. Why should I be afraid of walking towards a time of healing and learning to treat myself better again?

By: Linda

Linda — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:01:25 +0000

Incredible post, Aidan, really lovely. I’ve walked away from so many things, sometimes regrettably later than I should have. I walked away from my job of 18 years nearly 6 years ago (Yea for 6 years!) and I walked toward a whole new future. Like Liz (who said it so perfectly) I walked away from an ex-marriage, mine 20 years ago and walked into a bright new future.

Thanks for a lovely post.

By: T

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:30:51 +0000

Aidan, this is a great post.

I like your perspective on it as well. Walking away means walking toward. Beautiful.

I walked away from my last relationship. I so needed to much earlier but I needed to make that decision on my own. People ask me, because I’m a single mom, how did I know when it was time to give up on my marriage. Well, we all have a breaking point, don’t we? Mine was after lots of mistakes and then a year of barely hanging on by a thread. I know some people who could go years and years and years before they finally reach their breaking point. And still others will crack at the first red flag.

Do I regret walking away from my marriage or the next relationship? Sometimes… but I’ve noticed those regrets show up in times of fear. When I don’t know where I’m going, I want to run back. Then, I talk myself down, take a deep breath and take the next step forward.

Love this post. I also linked to you in the post I just put up tonight. Thank you for your inspiration.

By: john cave osborne

john cave osborne — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:07:36 +0000

as semisonic once sang,

every new beginning starts with some other beginning’s end.

ah, takes me back to my youth and conjures up images of closing down bars in seattle’s freemont district.

good thing i walked away from all of that…the whole metrosexual, bar-hopping, bigger-better-faster phase. i would have never slowed down enough to find lovie!

By: sasha

sasha — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:42:32 +0000

it is very hard to walk away from someone…..for me. i always have the courage to do it, but it takes me a while to get that courage and make sure it’s the right thing to do. it’s so hard cause you don’t know what will come next or if it will be better for you. you have to have faith and trust that you are moving toward something better.

By: Liz

Liz — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:48:14 +0000

Ten years ago (almost to the day!), I walked away from a marriage that was, according to most, “not that bad.” I went against everything and everyone. My parents. My family. My friends. One friend told me straight out: “I can’t be your friend right now, because I can’t support this.” I walked away because I was completely drowning in this marriage. Not because of abuse, not because of violence, not because of infidelity. It was more subtle. But everyday, he tried to make me something I was not. He tried to make me quiet, and easy, and small. When I told the world I was leaving, most people had the same response: “But he’s such a nice guy.” It was the best decision I ever made in my life. I walked away then having no clue what I was walking towards, but knowing without a doubt that I did not want to stand there anymore.