Letting Go of Who We Used to Be

(gentle music) Headspace Studio. Hi, and welcome to Radio Headspace. I'm Dora. Thanks for being here. So I wanna begin today's episode by inviting you to think about who you are in this moment, the habits and routines you have, the people you spend time with, the way you move through the world. Now, ask yourself, if you had to let go of all of that tomorrow, who would you be? That question can feel unsettling, can it? Because so much of how we see ourselves is tied to the things we do, the people we're with, and the roles we play. And when those things shift, we're left wondering, who am I without this? And this is a question I've had to sit with before. There was a time in my life back in my early 20 when I made a decision that completely reshaped who I was. I decided to stop drinking. Now, I didn't have a problem with alcohol in the traditional sense, but I do have alcoholism in my family. When I was starting to notice how drinking was impacting my mental health, my energy, my sense of self. For years, my Friday nights looked the same. There was this anticipation, this underlying energy of seeking out fun and chaos. It felt like a celebration that we had survived another week of school or work. We go out, drink, laugh, dance, and stay out way too late. And then I'd wake up on Saturday or Sunday feeling horrible. Physically, yes, but also emotionally. There was also this regret of how I'd spend my time, this nagging sense that there had to be more to life than this repetitive cycle. But everyone around me was doing it. So I kept going week after week and year after year, until one morning I woke up and thought, "Enough is enough." (light music) Change is scary for a lot of reasons, but I think one of the deepest fears we face when it comes to change is the fear of losing our identity. We build our lives around certain roles, habits, and communities. And when we outgrow them, we're faced with this terrifying question: Who am I without this? For me, drinking wasn't just a habit, it was woven into my social life, my friendships, my sense of belonging. And when I decided to let it go, I wasn't just giving up alcohol, I was letting go of an entire identity I'd carried for a long time. And that's what makes change so hard. It's not just about the logistics of doing something different, it's about the grief of releasing who we used to be and the uncertainty of who we're becoming. That morning when I woke up and thought "Enough," I can't say there was a dramatic moment or a rock bottom experience, it was more like a subtle knowing, percolating in the background, a buildup of all the mornings I'd felt this way, finally reaching a tipping...