A wealthy couple lived in a huge mansion. They had nine birds in a large birdcage kept in the living room. Each time anyone cleaned the cage, the birds would struggle to escape and fly away. One such day, one of the birds successfully managed to escape. It flew all the way toward the high ceiling and landed on a chandelier.
The couple didn’t know what to do, for there was no way to reach the bird. As they stood wondering how to get this bird back into the cage, they noticed an endless communication between the birds in the cage and the free bird. The couple reasoned that the free bird was probably telling the birds in the cage to make a go for it and escape.
After a while, the conversation intensified among the birds, and the free bird kept flying back and forth from the chandelier toward the cage. The couple then realized that the caged birds were probably urging their buddy to come back and join them. Realizing this, the savvy couple opened the cage door and left the room. When they returned an hour later, the free bird had voluntarily joined the rest of his friends, again trapped inside the cage. The couple tiptoed to the cage and closed the door.
So it is with life: When we make progress—finding a new spiritual path, overcoming an addiction, leaving a bad marriage or relationship, or quitting an unsuitable job—the problem often lies in overcoming the pulling force of those we left behind. Instead of moving forward with our newfound liberty, we allow our former habitual attachment to pull us back into slavery, unhappiness, and general disgust with life.
When you do go back to an unsuitable relationship or situation, you are committing a crime against soul, your higher self. By the time you realize what you have done; you have sometimes slid back so much that you practically have to start over, to regain your grounds.

Letting go is not easy but it can be learned.