Emotional Baggage - How to get rid of it

It took me the best part of my twenties to realise that I was carrying the weight of the mistakes and sadness of people I loved. I have always been the peacemaker, the person most upset emotionally by harmonious discord. And because I couldn't fix the problems in my family and because I realised a smile, a joke or a heart to heart couldn't mend the bonds that had been broken. I felt a sense of failure and desperation. I hadn't thought that these weren't my burdens to carry until I realised how much they had held me back in my own relationships, in thinking about what I wanted from life and from really living my life to the fullest I could. So in a way, I hadn't failed anyone but myself.
Human beings find it hard to accept that other people are truly responsible for their own lives. And you owe it to yourself and to the people you love to be the happiest and most fulfilled person you can be.
And so one day in a light bulb moment I chose to give up this baggage even if it meant it would never have a home, or would never be resolved. Because I had a life to live. I accepted (with some difficulty) that the only life I could influence and have true harmony in was my own. I also realised that some things and heartaches are never resolved and that you do have to let go of them, because if you don't then the past will be your present.
So if you're upset, betrayed, heart broken. Leave all the sadness, hurt and negative energy in a lost property room. Give yourself the permission to let them go. Because forgiveness and freedom are the kindest things you can ever give to yourself. No one but yourself is allowing you to hold on to negativity, sadness or guilt. Let go of that baggage now and feel the lightness it leaves.