Move On

Move On

If we were meant to stay in one place, we would have roots instead of feet.

Rachel Wolchin

Moving on is not really a matter of choice. Time itself moves on. Life moves on. We often feel we are stuck but we are constantly moving on, fast or slow, or even at a snail’s pace – but we are moving. It would be abnormal to stop or be stagnant, for nothing in life is stationary.

We can feel stuck in three different areas of our lives, physical, mental and spiritual. The most important thing is to keep moving … in all ways.

Physically, we need to move to keep our bodies healthy. We need to find a way of doing this, even if in some way we are a little incapacitated. We can still move our body if we are confined to a chair. Micro movements, done consistently over time, strengthens us. We all need to make our bodies move, every day, consistently. So, start now. Have meetings standing up, or whilst having a conversation with someone, stand on one foot and lift the other – this will build your central core. Just be conscious to keep moving… unless you sit to meditate of course… in which case you will be moving… with your thoughts!

“You are likely to fall when you stop peddling your bicycle.”
Israelmore Ayivor

Mentally, we can remain stuck in certain belief systems for a long time. It is mainly the lack of faith in the self that causes us difficulty. “I’m weak”; “I can’t do this; “I’ve never done this before, and so I won’t be able to do it.” This is how we stay stuck. The way to start a new train of thought, to create a new neural pathway in the brain, is to replace these self-defeating ‘mantras’ with very powerful, counteracting messages. People say we have an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. Always listen to the angel.

Image by PayPal.me/FelixMittermeier from Pixabay

Sports stars all realize that winning is a mind game. Tennis players can come back even from one set down, just by shifting their mind-set, it is simply a thought of determination. Whatever we have to deal with, thoughts of: “I can do it!”; “I know what to do, or I can certainly find out”; “I have all the support I need”; these uplifting thoughts have a tremendous effect on us. These kinds of thoughts are very powerful.

What stops us from focusing our attention? Here it is important to avoid distractions. Sometimes we think that we have too many distractions, so we are unable to focus on what we need to do. However, Oliver Burkeman, a British author and journalist, says:

“…distractions aren’t the ultimate cause of our being distracted. They’re just the places we go to seek relief from the discomfort of confronting limitation. The reason it’s hard to focus on a conversation with your spouse isn’t that you’re surreptitiously checking your phone beneath the dinner table. On the contrary, ‘surreptitiously checking your phone beneath the dinner table’ is what you do because it’s hard to focus on the conversation.”

He goes onto to say we consciously distract ourselves, to avoid the painful thoughts we need to address.

If we stay still for long enough and face these things, we will actually get benefit; we will be able to see the lessons that life is trying to teach us. So that time well spent will pay off. We will be able to flex the muscles of our minds and hearts and create bigger, warmer hearts. We always learn and grow when we face what is hurting us, and resolve those issues within ourselves, with compassion.

The important punch line here is who or what has grabbed my attention? All social media platforms want to keep us glued to those screens for as long as possible, to keep us distracted from the realities of life. It is far more soothing to see another’s life on screen than to see my own. Hence, paying attention to where my attention goes is central to moving on mentally.

“What’s gone is gone. One of life’s lessons is always moving on. It’s okay to look back to see how far you’ve come, but keep moving forward.”

Roy T. Bennet

However, spirituality is the key to our finding a way forward. Spiritually, all of the above also hold true. Powerful thoughts and elevated thoughts build our self-confidence and self-respect. Taking care not to be distracted from our spiritual aims, and truly looking inwards to see what is going on and what we need to face and deal with, takes us forward.

When we are stuck, one of the ways to keep moving is to actually sit and not move at all – to ‘be’ rather than to ‘do’. To get to grips with our bigger purpose. When we sit in meditation, we begin with a certain kind of consciousness. During meditation, when we contemplate and examine powerful truths, we calm our breathing, focus our thoughts and there is a shift in consciousness. Our awareness becomes broader, and solutions and ways forward appear… as if by Magic. Whatever we are unable to face and deal with, will keep popping up on the path until we do. The saying reminds us that, “Whatever you resist, it will persist.”

We are all spiritual travellers, and as travellers, however much we wish to stay in one place, or even take things with us on the journey of life, we simply cannot. Because we have to move on, therefore so we want to travel as lightly as possible. We are guests in this world, so take little, give much and move on. We need to leave the past behind and look forward to the future, and spread as much light as we can, on the way.