future – Site Title

Moving Forward

We do it everyday without giving it much thought. Each day requires that you put one foot in front of the other and to keep moving forward. The unknown is scary, the future hazy, and not knowing adds to the whole shebang. However, standing still in one spot is not going to do it even if it feels right at the time and digging in your heels and thumping your nose at whatever is in front of you is a no go either. Move forward….you must if you want to get somewhere in life.

“If I’ve learned anything in life, is that sometimes things get in your path and you have a choice: you can either smash right into them or you can adjust and move around, but you have to do one or the other in order to move forward.” Unknown

According to one source, “moving forward is essential for personal growth, overcoming adversity, and unlocking new opportunities, acting as a “cure” for stagnation, regret, and unhealthy fixation on the past.”

Staying fixated on the past is something that all of us are experts on. We can give a run down on how to do that with a smile plastered on our faces, that’s because we’ve done it numerous times. I know I have. I think the “fixation” comes from the familiarity of the past, we know it well, good or bad. Moving forward is a whole different story altogether. Who wants to move forward when the path forward is unclear and there could be a quagmire of sorts waiting for you there. It is risky business but it needs to be done if you want to get anywhere in life.

“Sometimes in order to move on, you have to accept that some things will just never go back to how they used to be no matter how much you want them to.” Unknown

Moving forward also requires strength, a single-minded focus, and the will to survive whatever is coming your way. You have to trust that all will be well as you put that foot forward hoping that whatever is waiting out there will treat you kindly and lead you on the path to success. Here’s the thing, if you’ve got one foot back there, you know where, and one foot in front, that is a surefire way to failure.

“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.” J. P. Morgan

Easier said than done? Absolutely. I’ll be the first to say that I love dragging my feet. Even if you give me a push forward, I PUSH BACK! I like staying where it is familiar and comfortable. I do not like the unknown but that has never stopped life from showing me what’s ahead in bits and pieces.

Daphne Rose Kingma said it beautifully.

“Holding on is believing that there’s only a past; letting go is knowing that there’s a future.”

I love that quote because it speaks to the truth of the matter. The past is done with, it is finished, although it loves hanging on and we give it an extra boost by keeping our thoughts and actions focused on it. It is a pesky thing, the past, but it plays its cards well and if it finds someone who will entertain it, it WILL linger on. Let it go. It is no longer needed. You are moving forward.

“Close some doors. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because they no longer lead somewhere.” Unknown

Remember that bit of advice. It is important to close doors that no longer serve your best interests. If you want to head somewhere, keep on moving forwards even if it makes you tremble with fear at times. You can’t go back to the past. The future is waiting so put one foot in front of the other and head that way trusting that you will get to a better place at some point in time.

“It is always important to know when something has reached its end. Closing circles, shutting doors, finishing chapters, it doesn’t matter what we call it: what matters is to leave in the past those moments in life that are over.” Paulo Coelho

AND

“Remember you can’t reach what’s in front of you until you let go of what’s behind you.” Unknown

Well said. I just need to take that advice to heart and learn from it!

Have an amazing day.

Past or Future?

I do both. Thinking about the past and the future is a must as far as I am concerned. The past helps me to see the future in a different light. There are lessons I have learned from my past and I know that I can put those lessons to good use in the future. Some people say, “The past is the past, leave it be.” I disagree, dwelling on it is one thing but knowing where you came from is another. The things you went through helped to shape the “now” you. One should not shut the door completely on the past but from time to time look back there to see the monumental strength it took to get to where you are now. I say, the past is important for all those reasons.

The future is something else altogether. It hasn’t happened yet so there is an element of surprise attached to it. Will it be good? Will it be bad? Questions we often ponder about but there are no answers yet. However, we have it in our hands to make it better than where we are at now. Working on yourself, planning, and looking towards the future with optimism all helps.

There are no guarantees in life. The past gives us “lessons” we don’t want to repeat and the future, well, it is looming in the distance but one thing is for sure, it will arrive sooner or later. I spend time thinking about both and it is not wasted time. It helps me to move forward from where I am at and to try and grasp the future with both hands! Not always possible but I am optimistic that when it does roll around, all will be well.

Fingers, toes, and everything else crossed!

Daily writing prompt

Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past? Why?

View all responses

Needle in the Haystack!

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

It’s elusive, it’s invisible and it has a tendency to play games with you but more importantly you may never find it no matter how hard you try.

I met a girlfriend for breakfast a few days ago and since we’re both on the dating circuit, she more than yours truly, our conversation naturally turned to men and their idiosyncrasies. She is less uptight than I am so that needle in the haystack does not need to be just one needle according to her. She claims that she has found a number of them hidden in plain view!

My “needle in the haystack” on the other hand has kept himself well-hidden and has given me the runaround. I thought I had found that special someone some time ago but at closer inspection I found out it was a fake, not a needle at all but something masquerading as that proverbial needle.

Who came up with that idiom anyway? I bet it was an old spinster sitting in some lonely loft somewhere needle in hand when she decided that it was a perfect way to describe her dilemma. Why a needle? Why not a saucer or a cup or something a little bigger and more visible? It would make things a lot easier, let me tell you.

The definition of a needle in a haystack is defined as something which is very difficult or almost impossible to find. It just so happens that is exactly what I’m looking for and it’s exactly the kind of thing I would go for. Easy is not in my vocabulary. However, after several forays into haystacks I’m about ready to give up on this idea. It seems I’m allergic to hay! I’m not looking for Mr. Perfect, some may disagree with that assumption, just someone loyal, caring, trustworthy, soft spoken and easy on the eyes and you’ve got my needle in the haystack down pat.

Since I’ve been on the dating circuit, I’ve met several men. My first date usually turns out this way. We meet for coffee and immediately I have an attitude. I’m silently pondering this question. “Why are you looking at me like YOU ARE the Big Bad Wolf?!! It goes downhill from there. Other times, they are narcissists, control freaks, liars, cheaters and just NOT my type! Get the picture? Maybe I’m just not ready to be out there again. Oh, did I mention I’m a recluse to boot? I LOVE my own company. Someone pointed this fact out to me recently. After several attempts to get me out of my roost, he said, “I think you’d rather be at home or out in the fields all by yourself and that is the impression you give me.” I thought, you might have hit the nail where it belongs.

If that’s not enough of a deterrent, getting to first base with me is like you’re in never never land. It never happens. My girlfriend, on the other hand, has made it all the way through to fourth base many times over and keeps moving easily to the next victim. Did I say victim? Oops, I meant conquest. Whatever rocks her boat but it is just not me which makes life and dating much much harder to do.

Today I took that walk again looking for answers in nature. This time around, I got none. I think nature is getting a little tired of me coming out there looking for something like it is a soothsayer. It was cloudy, grey and not a single thing was moving according to my naked eye but that is besides the point. I walked back home ready to go it alone.

If you ask me there’s no such thing as a needle in a haystack and if there is, why would you hide it in a haystack anyway! The way my luck is going, that needle has moved all the way up the haystack by now and I would need some kind of suction device to get it out!

So as I see it, I might wind up like that spinster I talked about earlier all alone in that loft pining away for a love that never came along. Only I would have bloodied fingers and I would be screaming bloody murder at that ‘whatever’ in the haystack!

“It’s a funny thing about looking for things. If you hunt for a needle in a haystack you don’t find it. If you don’t give a darn whether you ever see the needle or not it runs into you the first time you lean against the stack.”

P G Wodehouse

There might be something there in that quote. I’ll keep you posted, now off to NOT think about that needle and to do something productive for the day.

HAVE AN AMAZING DAY