We all carry stuff around with us that just isn’t ours.

Many years ago I had a business partner that, after 18 months in business together, decided to leave the business.

It wasn’t a nice split and I remember the emotion that came with that.

The worry and fear.

The disappointment and sadness.

The confusion and questions.

Anyone who was around me at that time will remember that well.

I had a metric fuck tonne of questions.

I was angry.

I didn’t know who or what to blame.

I mostly looked inward and asked what was wrong with me. 🙄

And I very nearly wound the business up and walked away.

But I didn’t.

I made changes in the business, in my life and in me that would ultimately lead me to sell that business a number of years later.

Growing something drastically different (and far better IMVHO) than I ever would’ve done with the initial management setup.

And I am fucking proud of that.

Because it all could have been very different.

A lot of my confusion at the time came from the behavioural incongruence between the other person I thought I knew, and their behaviour in the moment.

I see that incongruence continue even today and if I am honest, it does sadden me.

I recently found some of the communications from around that time.

Communications that turned from amicable to pretty nasty within a matter of minutes.

Now I know that I openly see this from my perspective and my memory is only as reliable as my biases and current mood will allow, but seeing the communication in black and white was quite telling.

Despite every emotion wanting to type SWEAR WORDS IN CAPITAL LETTERS I held it back, stayed professional and said what needed to be said.

Professionally.

Succinctly.

Precisely.

That served me well.

Very well in fact.

And continues to do so today.

I held on to the emotion and feelings around what happened for far too long.

I carried the pain and confusion and let it cloud some of my thoughts far more than was needed or healthy.

Although I put it to bed a number of years ago, when I sold my business I realised that there was one more thing to say.

And maybe it’s not what you would expect.

It’s quite simply “thank you”.

Sounds bizarre, right? But stick with me.

Thank you for being there at the beginning.

Thank you for starting the business with me and sharing that experience.

Thank you for helping me create a business that gave me so much growth and experience.

Thank you for leaving when you did.

Thank you for showing me the real you.

Being able to say that openly and honestly feels good on many levels.

It was like the final weight being lifted off the shoulders allowing me to take a deeper breath and move forward.

We all carry stuff around with us that just isn’t ours.

The emotion that has has been levied upon us by circumstance and situation.

We feel we need to carry it with us and let it weigh us down.

Newsflash - you don’t.

You can drop it like it’s hot.

And maybe saying thank you can help you with that.