‘As it happens ever so often, we are reluctant to dispose off something that doesn’t serve us as we have already invested in it.’
Skinny jeans make me uncomfortable.
It’s a pity that today it’s hard to find a decent pair of relaxed fit jeans. On numerous occasions, I have returned from shopping expeditions empty handed as all the jeans on display were too tight.
A few years back, I bought a pair of tight jeans. I am not sure what made me buy it. Maybe I just wanted to buy something. Maybe I didn’t realise while trying it that it was a little too tight. Whatever the reason, I bought that pair of jeans.
It didn’t look odd but it felt very uncomfortable. As it happens ever so often, we are reluctant to dispose off something that doesn’t serve us as we have already invested in it.
This doesn’t just apply to clothes. It applies to outdated philosophies, ways of working, mindsets. It applies to relationships, jobs and hobbies.
I have invested so much. So I will squeeze the life out of it even if it no longer gives me the returns I am seeking.
After a few years of struggling in that pair of jeans, I finally gave it away.
I felt lighter. I no longer had to look at it when I opened my cupboard and didn’t have to struggle to wear it just because it was there.
Letting go and walking away are hard. Which is why we agonise over it, hoping that the tide will change, that lady luck will smile on us, that something that no longer serves us will suddenly start reaping rewards.
What works for a pair of jeans that no longer fits us works for everything else in our lives that we are holding on to, hoping they will give us a return that will never come.
