How to be happy: Turning lingering attachments into vitality

"It's already over."
Even if you tell yourself that,
a lingering attachment remains somewhere in your heart.

"If only I had done that back then."
"If only I had kept up that challenge."
"If only I had been a little more honest with that person."

Lingering attachments sit on the shelves of your mind forever, looking like expired snacks.
No matter how many times you throw them away, you find them back on the same shelf before you know it.

That is because within those attachments, there is something you were truly serious about.

Inside the box of lingering attachments, not only regrets but also the version of yourself that was truly serious are stored away.
That is why even if you try to throw the whole box away, some part of your heart holds you back, saying, "That is something precious."

I don't think you have to force yourself to throw away your lingering attachments.
Instead, take a good look inside the box.

"What was it that I wanted to cherish back then?"
"What was it that I really wanted to protect?"

If you find the answer, you might be able to cherish it in a different way, even as you are now.

Try turning your lingering attachments into vitality.

You cannot change the past.
But the sincerity you received from the past becomes the power that moves you forward from here on.

And when you look back someday, your lingering attachments might not be bitter regrets, but memories you can be a little proud of, thinking, "There was a version of me who was that serious."

The top image is a "Silene armeria" (Catchfly).
Its flower language is "lingering attachment."

It was named that because parts of its stem are sticky and catch insects.
It feels like something is catching your heart, and even if you want to let go, you cannot.
It seems to represent that kind of state.
But the fact that there is that catch is proof of how much it mattered to you.

If you can find the sincerity within your lingering attachments instead of trying to erase them, I believe it will surely become the power to move toward the future.

Books that influenced me in writing this article

"Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance" by Angela Duckworth

"Grit" is a book that teaches us that passion and perseverance enrich life more than talent.
The fact that you have lingering attachments might be proof of how much passion you poured into something.
Instead of ending while holding onto regrets about the past, turn that passion into a step you take today.
It was a book that encouraged that way of living.
I highly recommend it.

I have also collected other "How to be happy" flowers
at the link below.
Please take as many as you need 🍀

Thank you for reading until the end.
I hope to see you in another article.
🍀 May you be happy 🍀