You Must Always Move Forward in Life

This post is part of The Awakened Heart Project

Week 28: You Must Always Move Forward in Life.

“Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must learn how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life. What is it you would let go of today?”

― Mary Manin Morrissey

Lesson 28: You Must Always Move Forward in Life.

Living in the past is something many of us do, at least occasionally. Sometimes it’s heartwarming to reminisce about the past and talk about joyous memories. However, periods where ruminating about the past in a negative way, in a way that distracts you from the present and keeps you from moving forward, is never beneficial.

In life, you must keep looking ahead of yourself, not behind you. You must move forward, looking upward, as if you were a rock climber. You don’t look down, or back, because you know this will only trigger fear and uncertainty. This will paralyze you.

So, each and every day you remind yourself never to look back and second guess your life because there is no way to turn back. Each day you remind yourself that the present moment is all you have, and in that moment you have the ability to make changes. You stay focused on what it is you want out of life, not what it is you don’t have currently. You know that change will be hard, but you also know change can bring great joy. Just like a rock climber, moving forward and upward, takes strength, and determination, but in time it get easier because you’ll be stronger. Although it may be hard at first to never look back, you know in time, you will get stronger and it will get easier.

Anything worth having takes emotional strength, the will to go on, determination, and focus. This is one of the major lessons in life. Nothing amazing is just handed to us. The things that are handed to us don’t have the same value as the things we work for. It may seem easier to just get carried to the top, but once you’re there, will you have the strength to stay there? Will you have gained the needed lessons to be successful there? Mountain climbers learn their way up with each step. They know how to navigate the terrain. They know how to recognize areas of “danger” (e.g. people that will suck life and happiness away from you). These climbers appreciate the view at the top, because they know how hard it was to get there. The individuals’, who take the helicopter to the top, miss out on every step along the way. And when it’s time to navigate their way down they are at a loss; their only way down is with a helicopter. That is, they will never feel they have the strength survive without help.

Pain = Gain. This is true in so many realms of life: The pain of sore muscles after lifting weights but the gain of seeing results in time; The pain of childbirth, but getting to hold your child moments later and watch them grow up; The pain of suffering through the loss of love, only to find love again.  Everything in life is constantly going through changes. We’re always under construction. It takes time to build something great. At first it’s complete chaos, and everything around you looks to be in disarray. But slowly and surely, these come together.

Everything in life is a process. Respect it, and appreciate every step along the way. Appreciate the messy areas. Appreciate the times of pain. These are the times when you have the most to gain and you will if you don’t look down, but only look up. Don’t look back and second guess. Don’t look back and think you should have made a different decision. If you don’t like where you’re at in life, go forward and change it. Our past got us to where we are today and there are great lessons in that. But our past is an impossible place to live, so stop trying.

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