Growing up, we are taught to never make a commitment we can't keep. Never start something we can't finish. As time goes on, we stress ourselves out by taking on too many things at once and being unsure of which things to "drop" when we feel like we've had enough or can't juggle our balancing act anymore. One thing I've learned the hard way, time and time again, is that sometimes you have to give up in order to allow new things to happen and start over

Giving up doesn't make you weak and it doesn't make you a coward. Giving up means that you were strong enough and smart enough to realize that you couldn't handle something anymore and you're ready to put your energy else. It is OK to give up on people who disappoint you over and over again. Don't feel like you owe anyone your time or energy who isn't giving you theirs. As someone who is extremely stubborn and doesn't "give up" easily, this has been the hardest lesson for me to learn. It is perfectly OK to give up on someone who you've tried your hardest with and have gotten nothing in return. It is OK to walk away sometimes.

It's OK to give up on a dream to reach for a new one. Dreams come and go and there is nothing wrong with letting go of one dream and creating another one. Let go of dreams, but don't ever lose your ambition. Don't settle for anything less than what your heart desires.

Give up on school if you can't take it anymore. Don't let college make you lose sense of who you are as a person. College is hard and it's not for everyone. I'm not saying don't try as hard as you possibly can, but give up before you have nothing less to give. Study as hard as possible, pay attention, make the most of it, but don't let it ruin you and don't give up without asking for help. Accept defeat and move on to something that suits you. You can be successful in so many ways, and honestly in the long run happiness trumps success.

Give up on someone who is breaking your heart, but don't give up on love. As easy as it might be to say you're done with love and relationships and you're never going to love again, that's not true. If you allow yourself to love again, you will. If you say you're never going to love again, you won't. The easiest thing to give up on is love, but the most important thing to not give up on is love. There's always going to be something or someone better waiting and there's someone out there who will never give up on you, wait for that person.

Give up on yourself if you don't like the decisions you're making. I know everyone says, "don't give up on yourself, things will get better." But honestly, sometimes starting over with yourself is the key to starting over in life. Change the way you look at things and you'll change your life for the better in more ways than one. I'm not saying to let yourself go into a downwards spiral, but let yourself change. Let yourself be as many things as you want and let go of the versions of yourself that don't work or that you don't like. Be whatever and whoever you want to be, but don't let yourself be taken over by someone you're not.

Don't be afraid of changing and letting go. Give up the things that are toxic in your life and hold on to the things that mean the most to you and help you grow as a person. There's nothing wrong with giving up on the things that you tried your hardest at and didn't succeed. You can't be perfect at everything and you can't please everyone. Don't be afraid to let go if you need to.