I usually reserve powerful quotes for the Sunday Snippet feature on this blog, but this quote has not been attributed to any one specific person and I thought it was very much worth sharing.

“Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.”

From what I can gather, the original writer (or speaker) may have been referring to a traumatic event, like the loss of a loved one or the breaking up with a significant other. Yes, it absolutely hurts when someone near and dear to you isn’t with you anymore and it is only human to go through a grieving process. However, it is also important to know that your life still needs to go on and, thus, you need to “let go” at some point.

Taking the very same analogy of the monkey bars in a school playground, we can also think about how it can apply to finding both personal and professional success. Yes, on the one hand, you want to stay true to yourself. On the other hand, sometimes you have to let go of who you think you are before you can really discover who you can be.

It’s really easy to get caught up in negative self-talk or to convince yourself that you cannot do this or cannot do that. At some point, you need to get over yourself and take a chance. You won’t know what you’re capable of doing if you don’t take the opportunity to find out. Yes, this comes with the risk for failure, but guess what? It also carries the risk for success.

Instead of allowing yourself to be lulled into a sense of complacency with the status quo, it may be worth the chance to let go of the bar you’re holding, swing back and forth, and reach out for the bar. It’s the only way that you’re going to move forward.