There's often fear when considering letting go. I've seen it in my client's faces. I'll ask them if they still love and enjoy an item. There's a look of fear in their eyes as they realize that something is no longer serving them. It's a fear that if they let this thing go, they will be losing something. They aren't certain what will be lost. But there's a sense it will hurt.
I've had that experience myself. I remember someone helping me clutter busting some of my old writings. I came across some poems I'd written ten years before. I didn't read them anymore. They were written during an especially difficult time of my life that I didn't want to relive. I thought if I let them go, I would be missing an essential thing. My mind said in a panicky voice, "You need to hang on to this at all costs!" But a quiet voice in me said, "Take a look at some of the poems and see how you feel." I did and reading them made me feel nauseous. I realized the poems served me when I wrote them, but over time lost that worth. I let the poems go. Rather than feel a loss, I felt alive, filled with freedom.
We can feel afraid of what will take the place of what we fearfully hold on to. But I encourage you to let go of what's no longer serving you, with the curiosity and excitement of what will take its place.
One of my clients wrote me an email about the things that came her way after letting go of her clutter:
"I
was walking down the street and a little boy with his dog on a leash
were walking near me. His parents a little behind. All of a sudden the
boy came up beside me, put his hand in mine and we just continued
walking, holding hands, like we had known each other forever!! His
parents were smiling and laughing, as was I. The chances of something
like this happening are a million to one and I truly believe this is #1 a
result of lightening up my energy by not holding on to the negative
things around me, and #2 a message from God that if I'm attracting this
kind of energy from children, something wonderful has changed within. My new motto (thanks to you) is: a Maybe is a definite No."