I’ve seen and heard about how walking away is a weakness so many times. Here are some of the ways I’ve heard and read it phrased:

“You’ve just got to suck it up and stay.”

“But they’re your family, you can’t walk away.”

“Quitting is for the weak.”

“You didn’t want the relationship to work. If you had, you would have stuck with it.”

Umm, no, no, no and it doesn’t work that way.

Walking away can save someone’s life.

Walking away allows people to move on and heal.

Walking away protects people from further damage.

Walking away allows people to find better and more fulfilling things.

Waking away from danger and harm is what we should be doing.

There’s a societal perception that if you have to remove yourself from a situation, a person or a task, you are weak and that if you’d just tried that bit harder, it would all work out.

Real life isn’t like that. Heaping blame and guilt on people who are, more than likely, feeling bad enough already isn’t necessary.

Now, with a few exceptions, such as abusive relationships, I’m not advocating walking away without at least trying to see if things can be improved or resolved. What I am saying is that it does no good if you’re flogging a dead horse. When it gets to that stage, staying is the worst thing you can do, not only for you but for others who may be affected, such as family members.

Staying in a relationship that is no longer working because of social expectations is only going to lead to it getting worse. Any children are likely to be drawn into that atmosphere, which is not good for them.

A toxic work environment where there’s no scope to foster change and someone is staying because they are afraid of being out of work, finding another job, or stigma is likely to end up so ill that they can’t work at all.

An abusive relationship is just that, the victim is not the one who needs to stick with it and fix it. I’m not just talking about romantic relationships here. Family, friends and colleagues can be just as abusive. Blood isn’t thicker than water in that sense and being related to someone doesn’t mean they have carte blanche to mistreat them.

Your health and wellbeing are not something to be traded for affection or rewards or to be taken for granted either. None of us know what is around the corner.

If you are in a situation, environment or relationship that is adversely affecting you and there’s no resolution or ways to improve it, I beg of you, please walk away and don’t end up paying the price for staying longer than was healthy or safe. If you need support and help to do this, please seek it out. I know it is easier said than done but the price of staying is too high.

I’ve seen with my own eyes what can happen when you don’t.

WRITTEN BY LORNA SMART

BLOGGER @POEMSTELLIUM

INSTAGRAM @LORNASMARTWORDCRAFTER

LINKEDIN:WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/IN/LORNASMARTWORDCRAFTER/