Tag Archives: move forward

21

Behind You

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behind
All words have power. Behind is no different. Are you behind? Or are you mistaken?

There is a power in the world we gain from knowing what is behind us. There are a lot of ways that this word can be positively applied to your life. You can put things behind you and move on unencumbered by the past. You can find some wonderful things that are hidden just behind something, the sun behind a cloud, for example. Behind can be a motivator pushing us forward in pursuit of our goals. Focusing on the positive nature of the word can change your life for the better.

Put The Past Behind You

Undoubtedly, leaving the past behind you is a necessary step in one’s development. It can be challenging, for sure. We all have people and things we don’t want to lose.  But it isn’t easy to make space for new experiences that may make you wonder if you are still holding onto the past things. Always remember the lessons people and circumstances teach us, and move forward, looking for new people and things to embrace. They are out there waiting for you.

Putting the past behind you allows you to accept an attitude of possibility for the future, including everything you love to do and perhaps all the things you dream about. Even if your past was great, you can’t live there now. If you try, you will be stuck, standing still, looking back when the potential of today is floating past in life right before you. Putting your past behind you is a skill that must be learned, practiced, and mastered to become the best version of yourself.

Just Behind That

When looking for good things in life, sometimes we have to wait for a moment for a cloud or storm to pass, and then left in front of us is what we have wanted in our life. Not happy with your job? There may be a more desirable vocation just behind the one you dislike. Put it aside and see what is waiting. Not happy in your meaningful

look right behind that cloud for miracles
You can see the bright future coming just behind that cloud.

Relationships? Push them aside and look at them to see what lies there waiting for you. If you stay engaged in the current entanglement that you are not happy with, you will never find the positive situations that exist.

Peek behind the veil and see what is waiting for you. It takes courage to see what is waiting. It may be more or less than you hoped. Approach it without attachment, and most often, you will find something valuable for you that helps propel you on your way to becoming the person you have known you could be all along. If you can, take a peek and wait for the cloud to pass or the storm to subside. It is all there behind the obstruction, you see.

You Are Not Behind

You are not Behind, There you are, hurrying through your days and life because your mind tells you you have fallen behind. Others seem way ahead of us, and the worry of not being what we “should” deflates self-esteem.  When, in fact, you are really right where you need to be. The reality is it would be impossible to be anywhere else. Stop operating from needing to catch up and operate from the mindset that you are doing just fine because you are. Anyone else’s measure can’t judge your path because you are on a unique journey. It is yours alone, and there is no duplicate available.

You are not far behind!!!!

“Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward.”- Victor Kiam.

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine – and shadows will fall behind you.” – Walt Whitman.

“Turn your face to the sun, and the shadows fall behind you.”-Charlotte Whitton.

“There are… two kinds of people: those who are changing and those who are setting themselves up to be victims of change. As the world continues to march on around us, if I am only maintaining the status quo – if I’m not growing – then I’m falling behind.”- Jim Clemmer.

22

Are You Embracing Life?

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Where there is breathe, there is hope!!

The human experience is known for bringing a broad mix of experiences to your table. Some are difficult and change you and your perspective from the core. When someone else’s actions hurt you, it can be the most challenging thing to accept and keep moving forward. When you feel someone violated your trust, lied to you, or the way you saw things turned out to be untrue. Pain is the result, and these painful things lead us to question everything about our existence and self-worth.

There are dark days in every life, and it is reasonable to spend some time in self-contemplation about how we live and where we fit into the larger scheme of things. It is in these moments some people lose themselves. Recently finding myself in such a situation makes me remember times when I was lost before and managed to find a way through life’s challenges. We all have choices, and embracing who we are on the inside and looking to express that to the world is the most dramatic and worthwhile direction you can go. I am alive and still kicking and searching for the best expression of myself. Regardless of the value, anyone else sees in me. That is the last year’s lesson, and I am sharing ie with you.

Life Smacks You

I am not telling any of you anything new. We learn young; not everything works out as we hope. We build attachments to how we wish things would go, and circumstances combine to make events something else. Other people make choices and take actions we would rather avoid. We have no control over what other people do. The only thing we can control is our reactions. We can change what we are experiencing, accept them, or leave them. Life has presented a lot of unpleasant into

life smacks you
How you react is always your choice

my life over the past year. It is an easy way to blame someone else. My pain and loss are my faults because I believed the wrong person and accepted someone at face value when they were something other than what they portrayed.

My loss was devastating in a way I hadn’t felt in years, and it served as a reminder to understand other people better. Listen to what others are saying or not saying about who they are and life. People who say selfish things and live selfish lives are probably selfish. People who treat you like they don’t care about you don’t. That should be a notice to get as far away from those people as possible. Life is hard enough when your circle is cheering for you each step of the way, let alone when they have no belief in your value. That is a hard slap of reality because it makes you question your judgment about every aspect of your life. But if you never wonder what you are doing, you will never make the needed changes to become a better person and contribute to the world.

Remember, Life is a Short Game

Once you start to work through the pain of having a dream shattered or the loss of someone valuable to you, there is a tunnel you will emerge out of to find life is still moving along, and the harsh reality is this journey is a relatively short one. You only have a finite amount of time to play your dreams out, so time is not something you want to waste contemplating past regrets. It is what it is, and ruminating over it won’t change it. The people who hurt you have hurt you, and nothing will replace it. Time to move forward and take control of your own life and the things you experience for the rest of your time.

If you let your routines run your life and accept where you are, pretty soon, ten years are going to be gone, and you are going to be left wondering what you might have been able to accomplish if you had taken that chance, tried that thing, sang that song, published that book or just plain old followed that dream. You realize you are still alive and kicking. Where there is life, there is possibility. Exactly what opportunity means depends on your courage to overcome your past pains and attempt to find the best version of yourself. It is there waiting patiently inside of us all.

No Regrets

Take some time today, contemplate what you want to accomplish, and take the chance to make it a part of today. Learn what you need to know, try what you need to try, but most importantly, live your life without fear. Fear will limit your potential and stop you from doing what you want and learning to understand yourself. What makes you feel whole may be something you have never done. The place you feel most at home, maybe somewhere you have never been to.

Each day we have a chance to reset our goals and take the most minor, minute steps toward finding our best selves.   The most significant limit we face is the imaginary line of fear we have drawn around ourselves, which we dare not cross because of what might happen. We know what will happen if you fail to cross the line, nothing. That is the thing that will leave you with a blanket of regret. Years from now, do you want to look back and see all the changes you didn’t take and wonder what you might have accomplished if you just dared to try? Those are the biggest regrets I see in life and the ones I want to avoid. We have great possibilities in our lives. As long as we remember, we are still alive and kicking. Anything can indeed happen.

“Do the thing we fear, and death of fear is certain.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.” —Babe Ruth

“Being brave isn’t the absence of fear. Being brave is having that fear but finding a way through it.” —Bear Grylls

“Nothing is to be feared; it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” —Marie Curie

 

22

Life Begins Where Fear Ends

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Overcoming fearEvery day, every person in the world, at one level or another, experiences fear in their lives. It is how we deal with our fears that go a long way in determining how we enjoy our lives or slog through them in a haze of day-to-day worry about things that might happen or what another person might think of us.  Will we ever be happy? Will we ever be safe? Will we ever find love? What will tomorrow bring?  All questions we ask on our way to the conclusion of our life generate fear about worry of what we will do if the answer to any of these questions is negative.

Fear can become a pervasive part of your life, but it doesn’t cover you like a blanket. Fear creeps into your life through any insecurity or bad experience. Once inside of you, it grows like a virus, and the more negative you become, the bigger your fear.  There is only one way to defeat it: to recognize it and shine a light on it.  Easy to say and difficult to do, but necessary to become the best version of yourself possible.

Fears Control Us

Fear is our brain warning us about the potential of pain or harm. Often it is based on

overcoming fear
Are you really going to let fear control you?

Experiences that we have had in the past. It is driven by your ego and determines your behavior and actions in all situations, from job performance to dating. Fear is there pushing you. From the time we are children, we have to deal with our fears. Monsters in the closet, the dark, or heights are examples. But fear is just a thought in your mind you are paying too much attention to.

Most fears are no more real than the tooth fairy, and the pain they can cause is all self-induced. Thoughts in the mind that are sending warnings to us that might be or might not be real. The danger is real, it can hurt you, but fear can’t; it is only the thought of the pain that may or may not ever occur. This fear stops you from putting yourself fully out there into life. Life is going to happen; if you spend your time in fear of the worst-case scenarios, then you will never act bravely, try something new or be your own unique self. Soon you will be overcoming fear.

Living Fearless Overcoming Fear

This is the part that is so difficult because, as humans, we are conditioned to avoid pain and seek pleasure. Yet to get the latter, we often have to endure some of the overcoming fearformer. This is the way that life works. There will be a certain level of risk involved in attempting to achieve any goal. That is what makes it valuable. Assume the risk of being hurt to achieve greatness. If you should fail, the pain is the price of trying again, and as in all things, you are left with a choice. To move forward, try again, or stay still and let the fear of future pain discourage your efforts.

Every dream in the history of humanity was achieved with the risk of pain attached to it. Most involved some failure and doubt along the way until the goal was achieved. Only the perseverance of the individual involved allowed anything to be achieved. They were no different from you. You will be tested to think, experience, find, discover, and grow on your journey. Most great things aren’t going to be easy because the journey’s difficulty is what provides their value. Don’t let the fear of a temporary setback cause a permanent roadblock to your dreams.

“Life begins where fear ends.” Osho~Overcoming Fear

 

22

Leave Your Past Alone

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Regret- feel sad, repentant, or disappointed over (something that has happened or been done, especially a loss or missed opportunity).

One of the most popular places people leave their attention is in regret for past actions. No matter how old you are, there are situations in our past that cause us to feel sad, repentant, or disappointed. I should have done this, or I shouldn’t have done that. All these thoughts are a waste of time because the past is over and gone.

No matter what part you have played, it is also over and gone. To spend valuable time today reliving painful, uncomfortable experiences or certainly didn’t display yourself in your best light will only make you feel bad about yourself and rob you of your power. Take some time to focus on the present and bring your awareness into this moment, which is the only one you are guaranteed to have. Bring awareness to your thoughts of regret and realize they need to be released. It starts with noticing your thoughts about the past, the emotions these thoughts bring up, the words they cause you to speak, and the actions you are prompted to take because of them.

Learn the Lesson and Let it Go

All experiences have value. That is not an easy thing to believe because bad things often happen. These “bad” experiences can shape much of our perspective in life. Still, all unpleasant, complex, unfair, laborious, demanding, or exhausting experiences is a lesson that can help you if you look for them. And it can be hard to look for these valuable lessons. Life would be easy if there were no challenges, but if they didn’t push you, you would never reach your potential. It is the push that gets you to the next level. Or to even realize that there is a higher level of understanding, growth, and achievement.

Nobody will seek out difficult situations, and we spend most of our lives trying to put ourselves into situations where life will be easy. There is plenty of money and security, and worry is a thing of the past. But is it? Hard times allow us to develop our talents and confidence that if that awful thing didn’t break me, what can? We all have a strength that can enable us to overcome obstacles and leap over difficult times. Learn the lessons of the hard times and move forward.

Forgive Everyone and Wish Them Well

Forgiveness can be challenging to grant to those who have done something to hurt us in the past. But it would help if you moved on. Many people get hung up on forgiving because they feel that you are letting someone off the hook for hurtful actions in the past. That is not the case. All you are doing is putting whatever occurred in the past. Forgiveness doesn’t excuse anyone but gives you peace and freedom. Today is for living your life the best you can. If your mind, feelings, words, and actions are caused by experience, you are not doing that.

The most important person to forgive is yourself. No person has made it through the trials of life without making a mistake. Those mistakes can be small, but sometimes they are seemingly impossible. But you have to forgive yourself to move forward. You can not go back and change the past. All you can do is make today as positive an experience for everyone in your life that you can. Forgive yourself, and be conscious of why you think what you do. Move forward with the hope that the best today can bring you. That is a choice that only you can make for yourself.

You Can’t Trust Your Memory.

One of the difficult things about owning a human perception is that we remember things the way we want. Events do not necessarily happen the way we think they did. We have a perception of our memories that comes to us clouded with our thoughts, the words of others over time, and an idealization of things that happened long ago. People tend to forget the bad and remember the good situations over time. Sometimes people hold on to complex problems because they have become a part of their identity. Defining yourself through tragedy and loss is not a very healthy way to go.

Three people watch the same event happen. They all have a different story about what happened. This is because everyone has a different perception of things. Look at your tragic events of the past. How accurate are your memories? Even if they are accurate, the fear of being powerless or hurt affects us now. We don’t want anything like that to happen again. Memory and fear are just thoughts that you entertain and give power to. Change what you think about and how you think about things, and you will find freedom and growth. Those tragedies become strengths, and you reach places you never thought possible.

Focus Your Attention on Today

We are all placed in this world as works in progress. We have the potential to accomplish things, and nothing we are now is a finality. We can learn new things, develop our skills, and become better at everything we can think of doing. Focus your mind on what you can do today to become better, and you will make the world just a little bit better.

Don’t spend energy regretting your life’s traumatic, embarrassing, or tragic moments. They are just that, moments in your experience. It starts with a conscious awareness of the thoughts you pay attention to, the emotions that correspond, the words you speak to others and yourself, and the actions it leads you to take in your life. The past is gone, and we can’t get it back no matter how much we might like to. No regrets today, as we take it one day at a time.

“At the end of the day, let there be no excuses, no explanations, no regrets.” ― Steve Maraboli, 

“Never regret anything that has happened in your life; it cannot be changed, undone, or forgotten. So take it as a lesson learned and move on” – Anonymous.

“No more regrets. No turning back. I’m moving on”-Anonymous.

 

22

Life Challenges

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highwireIt is fantastic that life continually puts you into situations that challenge and change you. It is also eye-opening that I continue to be surprised by this. Yet here I am, looking at what I want to create, standing on the precipice of going for it and tentatively cringing.

It is not rare, I think, for people to feel this way. When you look at most people, they have put their real goals and dreams aside to accept living in a rut of consistency and security that life provides. Safe is the choice, but we still have ideas that we are not acting on. Today I am looking to move and am encouraging you to come with me.

See Your Fear

We should be good friends with fear by now in life. It has been a constant our entire lives. How we have reacted to it has changed through our life, but still, it is always there knocking at the door of your thoughts with those two little limiting words…………… What if?

I could attempt my dream, but what if……….

….it doesn’t work?

……….I fail?

……………………I look stupid?

………………………….., the world laughs at me?

…………………………………………….I am not good enough? etc., etc., etc.

These are the seeds of doubt, driven by fear that paralyze us into taking no action at all toward what we want to be. The only difference between those who achieve their dreams and those who do not is a willingness to take action and see what happens.

If it doesn’t work? You will gain experience and knowledge to allow it to work the next time. If you fail, then you learn and know. Joy and freedom are the results of bettering yourself and reaching your dreams. This effort is never wasted. Not growing the talent inside of you and seeing what you can do would be a waste of energy.

What if the world laughs? The world won’t laugh. The world will continue to exist, much as it did before, with the single exception that someone living there has provided their unique contribution, and now it is a slightly better place.

What if you are not good enough? A leftover doubt from childhood and time to get rid of this fear. Why wouldn’t you be good enough? If you can conceive of a thing, you can create that thing. If others don’t accept it, then that is their problem. The beauty of the building isn’t any less.

So on this thoughtful day, let us choose to evaluate who we are, see where we would like to be on a personal, financial, physical, and spiritual level, and then be brave enough to take those first tentative steps toward those goals.

The only way to know if you can cross that high wire is to try and see if you make it to the other side.

“Believe in your dreams, no matter how impossible they seem.” Walt Disney

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” Arthur Ashe

“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.” Oprah

“Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.” Henry David Thoreau

“We may place blame, give reasons, and even have excuses, but in the end, it is an act of cowardice to not follow your dreams.” Steve Maraboli

 

21

Persistence

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persistence
Be like the river in all you do.

There is a power inside successful people, and that strength comes from the consistent practice of persistence.  To be able to continue moving forward to a goal, despite hitting some obstacles along the way. Nothing takes the place of persistence when it comes to achieving your goals, financially, physically, or even spiritually.  Many things that are worthwhile to our experience are not easy to get. In this lies their value.   It is often the steps that one has to take to reach their ultimate goal that makes the goal a growth experience.  Persistence is the ability to push past your perceived limits and find your abilities.  Consciously look for persistence today in your thoughts, words, and actions. Where can you push through, keep moving forward and find success when it would be easier to pull over to the side of the road.

Never Give Up

Everyone faces moments of darkness in life. Times when challenges seem to be stacked against them. It can seem like there is no hope at all. But somewhere deep down inside, there is a voice, if you listen,  that tells you to keep trying. Try again. One more time.   It is the thing that gives you the power to give more effort, to begin again, to believe again, to hope you can achieve. This voice is persistence.  Without this word, you will have difficulty achieving anything of value because things of value, by definition, have a cost and that cost is your effort, imagination, and ability. Too often, the easy road requires nothing and is worth that exact amount.

Remember that challenges are two-fold. They provide difficulties that are unforeseen and seem like problems. But on the other side, they also come with an opportunity to succeed.  By being persistent, you can learn the lessons of the challenges, move forward, and apply them to your life.  It reminds me of the poem my grandfather gave me once. They don’t quit poems.  Challenges provide people with a chance to grow and become better.  Most successful people faced challenges that allowed them to develop the strength to achieve their goals.

Persistence Grows Your Best

When you are persistent and keep moving forward, it can be the best personal development program there is. Skills you didn’t have must be developed, and talents unknown rise to the surface.  These are treasures that would remain buried if there was no need for persistence in your actions to move toward your goals.

Look at your own story closely. Were there times you had to dig deep to get something accomplished? Where you tried and failed at first? But you kept going.  Most people have been in these situations.  The amazing thing is that most often, we can do things, that without the challenge, would never be realized. Having the gift to be persistent grows your best and allows you to share it with the world.  The saddest people I have seen are those who shy away from challenges because they are afraid of failing. Never trying means accomplishing anything.

It’s All In Front of You

When you look at your life as if it is taking place on a game board, these are the spaces you have already moved. Some were easy, and some were difficult, but they all led to where you are now. Whatever goal or reward you have chosen that you haven’t achieved yet, is another thought, feeling, action, and step away. To find it, there is only one choice to keep moving forward because it is not behind you or with you currently. It is all in front of you. Persistence gives you the strength to take the next roll or spin and move along the board. Like a game of Chutes and Ladders, it may lead to a quick rise or a step back, but it is all the move you need to get to the next step in your development, persist.

So be persistent today in your thoughts, words, and actions. Keep moving forward to the next step of your goals, growth, and development as a human being.  The only way to reach the finish line or win the game is to make the next move. No matter how scary it may seem. Persistence makes it all possible.

Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in. ~ Bill Bradley

“My greatest point is my persistence. I never give up in a match. However down I am, I fight until the last ball.”- Bjorn Borg

“The most interesting thing about a postage stamp is the persistence with which it sticks to the job.”- Napoleon Hill

“In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins – not through strength, but through persistence.” – Buddha

“You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.”- Babe Ruth

 

 

21

The Past

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udestiny historyrl So much of our lives revolve around the stories we tell. Not only the ones we tell others about our past but, more importantly, the stories we tell ourselves about the past. These stories about our perception of our history tend to color and temper our expectations for ourselves today.  What is the value of this? It is time to let go of history and move forward.

Faulty at Best

One of the things that I am sure of is that the history we remember and the stories we tell are not very accurate and controlled by the beliefs we choose to entertain. Memory is not a very trustworthy tool to use when looking at the past.  When five people witness an accident or another event, the stories will only have a base of consistency when interviewed separately. That is because we all have biases and beliefs that influence how we interpret the events in our lives. Accept that is true, and you can move forward without being attached to the results of stories from the past. Your memory is faulty, and you can’t trust that you remember things accurately at all. So living your life based on these lessons is faulty as well. Let go of history and move forward.

It Limits Today

Another reason to move past the stories that you let define you is that they will limit you. Focusing on the stories of the past that make up your character and experience establishes your identity. Who knows what new information and experience will do to change who you are and what you believe. Clinging to the past as an identifier for who you are will limit who you might become. It is like wearing a costume that you can’t get out of. Look at it, learn from it and discard it. There are no reasons to accept limits in your life.

You Can’t Change It

change the pastOne fact that is irrefutable is that no matter what has happened in the past, there is no way to change it. No matter what has happened, good or bad, it is what it is, and changing it is not an option. Many people spend their lives reliving old positive memories and glory days to remind themselves that they felt good about themselves at one point.  Or they spend a lot of time reliving mistakes and reminding themselves of the problems they caused themselves, like a badge of explanation for the problems faced today. Neither of these options is healthy or allows you to move forward. Your past can’t be changed, altered, or adjusted in any way. To think otherwise is a delusion. Learn from it and put it away, understanding that the only moment that matters is the one that you are in right now.

Our personal history can be an interesting thing to visit. There are people we met who we learned from, either good or bad. Some events affected the way we view life.  Some have allowed me to see the potential in all situations. Others make me wonder about the honesty of people. Regardless of the value, all of the past needs to be put away, so there is room for new growth experiences coming to you at this moment and in all the moments of the years to come.  One’s vision can only be clear without the shaded lens of the past.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa_JM287Lhk