
Why Do We Hold On To Old Clothes That Don’t Fit Who We Are Now?

The Letting-Go Practice I Tried
So here’s what I did yesterday.
I already had a pile of clothes in my office ready for donation – things Trevor outgrew.
I dug my old shorts out of the back of the closet – some are actually 15 years old! – and I added them to the donation pile.
I’ll be honest: it took some willpower!
My brain kept arguing, “but you WILL fit into these again someday … and when that day arrives, you can slip into these shorts and finally be happy and confident again.”
I had to override those thoughts and remember that fitting into old shorts will never be the permission slip I’ve been waiting for to feel okay with myself.
Here’s What I Learned From The Letting-Go Practice
When I suddenly realize I’ve been doing something that’s actually all wrong for me, I’ve found there’s one thing that can help create lasting change:
Take a deliberate, physical action in the new direction. It can be something really small, but it should be something that changes your physical surroundings.
Donating old clothes is a way to show yourself (and the world) that you’ve changed your outlook.
It’s a way to put into practice that you’re no longer valuing the size on your jeans tag over your own peace of mind.
After trying it myself, I recommend going through your old clothes and donating everything that doesn’t fit your right-here-right-now body.
It’s a freeing feeling to show yourself that you don’t place any value in what doesn’t mean anything and what doesn’t matter.
Now that I’ve cleared out my old clothes, I can more easily let go of the thought that I need to fit into a certain size in order to allow myself happiness.
Here’s the message that the letting-go practice sends:
Old clothes don’t define your worth. You do.