Let go (Reverb10 prompt)

• Prompt: Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why? (Alice Bradley) I let go of a friend this year. I still see her and say hello, but the trust is gone. It happened after the second time she blew up in my face over something that was not my fault. The first time it happened (about a year ago) I did all the right things: waited until she had stopped yelling, approached her calmly, said that it looked like something was going on with her, that I would be happy to talk about it with her if she needed that, but that I didn't appreciate being attacked. It didn't work, but I decided to try to get past it (after all, everyone has problems; wanted to cut her some slack), and treated her more or less normally. But a few months ago it happened again. After a reasonable question from me (yes, there were other people there, and yes, they all agreed it was a reasonable question) she blew up at me again. Something shifted in me, and I realized that this thing wasn't my fault, and that it wasn't my responsibility to solve her problems (something I tend to want to do with others). I was able to decide not to invest any further, to wish her the best, to greet her when I see her and be sympathetic if she comes to me, but not to expect or want anything else. It is really freeing to be able to let go of something like this, instead of trying to carry the burden of the whole situation by myself.
• In general, I actually have made progress in letting that onerous feeling of responsibility control my thoughts. Sometimes...it's just not my problem/fault/responsibility! An amazing feeling if you've spent years thinking everything was.
• And I let go of a lot of stuff. Real trend-follower here, with the decluttering. :-) There's a lot of stuff here from my previous relationship (he passed away 7 years ago) and I'm at the point where I can go through things and decide what I really want to have, what (else) can go to his family, what can go to the thrift store, etc. Turns out I don't need to keep nearly as much as one might think. Also freeing.