I was really inspired to reflect on some aspects of my life recently when I was listening to a podcast by a secular Buddhist who was sharing a parable about a raft. It went something like this - a person finds himself at a river that they need to cross and so they construct a raft and make the journey safely. Arriving safely on the bank on the other side of the river they decide to carry this raft on their back to continue their journey on foot because it helped them cross that particular river.
There seems to be different levels to this parable but one that really struck me was the difficulty in 'letting go' of something, maybe a belief system, or someone in a relationship, who was so important for a particular time or season in our life but now isn't, yet we still carry them (the raft so to speak) on our backs.
Another twist to this is how sometimes we then castigate ourselves for ever needing the raft in the first place...as if we were immature or silly for needing that thing/belief system or relationship then.
I don't pretend to offer any resolution to you as you read this for your own life, but merely invite your open and compassionate curiosity to whatever arises.