Breaking free from someone you love and care about is probably the hardest thing you can possibly do. But the way I see it is everyone gets hurt. We don’t always have the power to change that, but we can on how badly it hurts us as a person. Distancing yourself from the person who hurt you can help you move forward.

Constantly being around the person is painful, and it is a constant reminder of the pain they caused. You have to know your limits and know when to let go when you’ve passed it. You have to learn to let go. You can only take so much before you break; before you lose yourself as a person.

You don’t ever really stop thinking about someone who hurt you because the process of being hurt is a learning experience, so you will tend to hold onto that experience so that, hopefully, you don’t allow it to happen again.

Moving on and forgetting the person is hard, even harder if you have memories that keep you with them. But all they are is memories, memories that you may cherish for the rest of your life. Memories aren’t going to fade, but they aren’t going to last forever either. They are simply a thought or action you or someone has done that you have failed to let go. You held on to the memory…not the person.

This is the kind of love that gets you craving for someone’s affection and leaves you hurting and broken when they fail to give you the affection you want back. Yet, like moths to the light of a flame, you still go back to the unreturned affection as if there is something else to be gained other than more hurt and pain. You feel as if no matter what you can’t let go of the person. You focus all your attention and energy on getting them and are willing to risk it all to be with that person. The possibility that the person you love might one day love you back keeps your attraction burning. You stay hopeful, against all odds, and willingly make a fool out of yourself, often without a care.

You literally have to force yourself to break free from your love addiction. Thankfully, breaking a love addiction is tough, but not impossible. It’s a battle between your brain and your instincts. But one thing to remember is, your life is not meaningless without that person. There are other people out there who are ready to love you back. You will be sad, lonely and frustrated at times, but in the end you will find the most awarding thing of all. You’ll know once you have found the real thing because it will flow in both directions. You will know when you have found the person you are supposed to be with because everything will come naturally. You will never have to fight for that person’s attention.

All you need to do is let go.

Kali King is a senior at Harlan County High School and is a member of the Bear Tracks newspaper staff and student in the communications/creative writing class at HCHS. This is a continuing series of columns produced by student writers.