There are days when suddenly you have to make a deviation in the course of your life. Today is one of those for me. My workload today was going to be so much easier because I had an article written and ready to post on my blog. I could concentrate my morning on different things than my norm.
While I was eating breakfast I thought I’d just take a look in Facebook and check whether any blogs caught my attention. Then I started reading. Three particular blogs, from three of my very favourite blogging Ladies caught my attention. In the order that I read them, I will introduce you to them:
Rimly Bezbaruah – Journey: The Road
Alpana Prasad Heartache
Savira YogaSavy – An orgasmic experience
I then sat back and contemplated for a little while. The result is this article that I will now write.
Around here we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things. – Walt Disney
Life and time moves forward with or without us! Life can pull us along and we can allow it to take us where it leads. By allowing this to happen we surrender control to anyone who happens to waft into or out of our life. Instead you can take control and move your life forward at your own pace in the direction you choose. You can take control and go where you want to go.
To move forward we must:
• Know where we want to go and what we are looking to achieve
• Believe in ourselves
• Have a can-do, positive frame of mind.
• Need a total commitment to change.
• Leave your mistakes and regret in the past
• Learn from Failure
• Ask for Help
• Take 100% Responsibility
Every experience in your life helps put life’s puzzle together. Both positive and negative events help shape our lives. Every person that crosses our path on this journey we call life, comes into our life for a reason. They are there to challenge us, to help us see something and to inspire us. Some will stay in our lives for a short space of time while others will be there for much longer. When they go, they are gone, and you have no choice but to move on.
There is no standing still. You are either moving forward in your life or you are falling behind. You only have one opportunity to live your life, don’t live it regretting what was, or what is no more.
You have to start seeing the wonderful things that life still has to offer you. Now is the time to allow yourself to expect the best from life. Talk expectantly and positively about the future. Know that better things are right around the corner for you. Be excited! Once you implement a positive attitude to your way of thinking you’ll be amazed at the results!
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
What an empowering thing it is to do when you reflect and evaluate your life and look forward to implementing changes to move towards a better life. Reflecting on your life and making plans for improving your journey is a good process to work through anytime.
When bad things happen to you, it is natural to go through a time of sorrow. However, in order to move forward you need to make a conscious decision to let go and move on. Don’t allow yourself any longer to dwell on that event over and over again in your mind. Let me make this point one more time, if you want to go forward in your life, you need to let go of the things in your past that will impede or even prevent you moving on.
It is your response to the events in your life that have a lasting impact, not the event itself. By continuing to dwell on events and set-backs you are creating a road block ahead of you, keeping your dreams and good intentions from coming into your life.
I implore you to let go of the things that are holding you back. Release yourself from your self inflicted bondage, set yourself free. You are responsible for your life’s journey.
Forgive people who have hurt you; let go of the things that have been done to you. Get resentment out of your life! Let it go. Only then can you bring to yourself fresh hope and move yourself forward to the life you want. Don’t keep yourself prisoner to anything or anyone. You have the key to your cell, use it to open the door, step through it, and get back on your journey.
You do not have the power to change the past. Forgiveness will cut you loose and free you to move forward and create a new future.
To bring about a change in your life, you need to make inner change –changing your thoughts, transferring your focus, concentrating on what you want to bring into your life, rather than what you don’t want, or what you’ve lost.
There may be many things you want to change in your life, but it’s best to start with one small change at a time. Your chances of success are higher if you don’t try to do too much at once. After all Rome wasn’t built in a day, and nor will you be.
“It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.” Old Chinese Proverb
Moving forward with your life will of course take time, you have to be patient with yourself. You’re going to make mistakes, at times you will look back with some regrets, just don’t be hard on yourself. Keeping taking one step after the other. Each step you take will move you forwards towards getting where you want to go. Just keep taking one step at a time.
I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward. Thomas A. Edison
Learn this one secret in life and success will find you … keep moving forward.
You’ll see how the future can be brilliant when you take control of your life. Today, fully and consciously make the decision to live free and keep moving forward.
“In life, you’re either moving forward or backwards, towards something or away from it, growing stronger or becoming weaker. Always strive to be in a constant positive motion”. Michael Irwin
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Great post… I agree with what your saying and I love Irwin’s quote. Sometime I think people start defining themselves through and by their hurt. They almost seem to relish it. As if A higher power took their time to cause this hurt then they must be important!! Almost as if it absolves them of ever trying again!!! But then again I could be wrong 🙂
http://jpweddingphotograpy.blogspot.com/2011/08/collaboration-of-photography-and-words.html
My thoughts exactly! I believe the reason why so many people just cannot move forward in life is because they’ve become addicted to their misery. You must embrace change and make room for a new you, in case you really want to move onwards.
Pedro. Welcome to my blog. Thank you for a great comment. There are always new challenges waiting for us. The You need to be ready to grow and stretch. Change is the only way we progress. New ideas, thoughts and strategies stretch us and make us better. You have to embrace change and to expect it.
Jim, you just really surprised me, such a great comment, and so aware. I totally agree with you, at some point on our journey we may hit a roadblock.At these defining moments we can hide behind excuses and act powerless or rise to the challenge and grow stronger, wiser, and more resilient. I say make no excuse because my dreams deserve my best effort.
We need to move forward or we will be consumed by the beast that is called the past…
Yes Lazza that is one of mine lol
A
Alejandro In the film ‘wolfman’ it was said ‘Never look back, Lawrence. Never look back. The past is a wilderness of horrors’
“To bring about a change in your life, you need to make inner change –changing your thoughts, transferring your focus, concentrating on what you want to bring into your life…”
This is so important to do…and I’ve discovered that it works best when I feel good as I shift my focus on what I do want.
Wonderful words and inspiration, as always Larry! 🙂
Thank you Becky. We must always be aware that to change what we face on the outside we have to change what we think on the inside
Ahhhhhhhh….yesssss by god!!! Larry this has to be your first very emotional post….Straight from the depth of your heart. It melted me into a warmth that was comforting…
Savira PRAISE INDEED. I can say no more. You know how much those words mean to me.
Your posts are full of positivity and hope. I like the idea of moving forward, standing still is a foolish option and living in the past an equally bad choice. Great post, thanks for sharing.
Sulekha thank you for your kind words. i pray that i do fill you with positivity and hope each time you visit, and that you are moving forwrd in the direction you want to go.
I am crying reading this one Larry,just as I cried writing my post,and reading Rimly’s also…we need support when moving forward in life, it is a natural and sometime necessary fact of life. We are not alone on this planet. Let face it, we are all here to help each other, and the sooner we realize it, the better for everyone. We can move forward by helping each other pull on the support ropes of life.I just want to say,thank you Larry..u are so special to me..I really wish I could some how meet u.I realized that there would never be the “right” moment..I just didn’t want to wait until the time was just right to take the first step toward achieving my goals…So I am learning to move..where I end,I don’t know..
Alpana your article showed me how far you have come. Your comments show me how you are blossoming into the new you. We need to alwys show support to those around us, and i can promiose you, i will continue to walk with you on your journey, our paths have crossed for a reason.
Oh yes! I like this, Larry. Exactly how I feel – moving on rather than wallowing in past hurts makes life so much more meaningful. Easier said than done, of course!
Corinne we have to move on and find a way to stop being haunted by thoughts of past events, or of people that we have lost … i know its hard but our future rests on us breaking away from what holds us back
Oh Larry reading this keeps bringing to my mind my line “discarding the old for the new”… I have never regretted anything in my past, nothing is good or bad I feel, they are all lessons to be learnt. It is up to us to make use of them or go on making the same mistakes. The past one year I have come a long way from what I was.I do tend to slip but friends like you keep me really motivated. Thank you so much for sharing such precious gems of inspiration.
Rimly See you life as a journey. Don’t spend time looking back on that winding route which has brought you to this place feel the joy of striding forward to the place you want to go, and don’t let the slip ups hold you back. As long as each time you fall down, you get back up again, nothing will stop you reaching your goals
Hi, Larry! —
I really enjoy the way you shared your creative process with us about the writing of this post. Cool!
Your wise words about moving forward reminds me of a favorite Bible story which climaxes with, “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” (Genesis 19:26) I believe the moral of the story about escaping — or not — from Sodom & Gomorrah from Sarah’s point of view is that when we focus on the sickness or destruction of the past we are frozen in that past time & place, like a pillar of salt (which is a preservative).
Thank you for sharing and being such an inspiration!
Linda – i can say no more than thank you for a fantastic, thought provoking comment
Inspirational, Larry! The past is to be learned from and let go and the future is to be embraced with love, hope, and faith. I loved Dangerous Linda’ comparison to Lot’s wife; if we look back, thinking how things should have, could have, would have been, we miss the miracle of the present.
Blessings, my friend!
Martha i always say don’t look back. So many people are held up because of past events, which they won’t let go off. Life is about learning to flow with what crosses your path whether positive or negative. It is not about giving in, but trusting the process of your life and the decisions you make along the way.
Hi Larry,
Excellent tips here for progressing.
We either grow or die. Create or disintegrate. By knowing where we’re going, we go.
Many stagnate due to lack of direction. If you’re confused about where to take your next step, you never take it, and you slowly die each time you hesitate.
Know exactly what you want. Take 1, 2 or 3 days away from the laptop and get uber clear on what you want out of life and you will rarely procrastinate.
Thanks for sharing.
RB
Hi Ryan, thank you for an awesome comment. Each of us is on a journey through life with many ups and downs, peaks and troughs, accomplishment and failure is in in my mind determined by how clearly we see, and want the direction in which we move our lives. If you don’t know what you want, then as too many people find you have no chance of getting anywhere worthwhile.
Great post mate and great inspiration from the ladies 😉
Moving forward.. i guess that’s just the key in living life.. we don’t have to live with the past.. what we need is to be progressive enough and just keep on going with life..
Tara, being a year away from my 50th birthday, i plan to make the most of every day because there is so much we can do, opportunities await us, and that is why life can be so exciting.
Its so inspirational article Mr. larry lewis.
I am feeling so much great and energetic after reading this post and some comments of people.
I don’t regret the things I’ve done, i regret the things i didn’t do when i had the chance.
Mr. Larry thank you for sharing this post. and thank you very much all of you for an awesome comment .
Mellisa they say that make sure when you get to your last moments on earth that you don’t look back and see the things you didn’t do, that you didn’t try. We have to make the most out of life, and enjoy our journey.