New Year's Resolutions 2017 , Moving On & Letting Go..

Don’s Diary (Moving On & Letting Go..)

It is probably already a bit late in the year to be making the classic New Year’s Resolution to achieve particular objectives but it is never too late to review where we are at in our journey through life and reset your course. It needs to be done all the time.

We all will have made mistakes and failed in important relationships. These factors and circumstances beyond our control will require us to reset our direction and priorities. The phrases “move on” or “let go” to deal with these circumstances are now more in vogue than in the past. They can be annoying when used when one is searching for an answer or demanding accountability. However it can reflect a positive, optimistic attitude to life. It is never too late to make a resolution about these matters.

It is quite likely that we will have accumulated “baggage”, I mean unhealthy attitudes, prejudices and biases about particular issues or people, and the consequences of bad past decisions which will distract us from getting the full enjoyment from life and providing assistance to others. You need to “let go” and “move on” and discard this “baggage” but this takes a conscious decision. “Letting go” can sometimes be one of the hardest things to do but having done so it can be enormously liberating enabling you to live a full and happy live. It takes courage to “let go” of the familiar. We are not here to live life as a rehearsal and our past does not necessarily equate to our future. “To let go is to release the images and emotions, the grudges and fears, the clinging and disappointments of the past that bind our spirit.” (Anthony Robbins b. 1960)

As I get older I have become less and less tolerant of those few who lack integrity and I turn my back on them as soon as possible. If some offence is taken a simple act of contrition saying sorry and a request to “move on” is usually enough to resolve the issue. Potentially controversial subjects should be avoided but if there a sticking point on an issue all that is usually needed is a statement such as “well we will need to recognise that we have different views on this matter so let’s ‘move on’ ” – this is better than an argument. If a discussion in the resolution on an issue becomes complex or convoluted all that is usually needed is to say is “Let’s go back to our objective and then ‘move on’ ”.

It is important when you “move on” that you do not move away from those near and dear to you: “move on” but do not move apart. I like to “move on” within a predetermined but not a rigid strategy. Remember, “The best skill at cards is knowing when to discard.”– (Baltasar Gracián y Morales, SJ, better known as Baltasar Gracián, Spanish Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher. 1601-1658.)

An ability to “let go” and to “move on” is essential for harmony in a Lodge.

Yours fraternally,

Don