The one thing we can’t escape is our thoughts. And if you’re an emotional Pisces like me, you probably think a lot more about relationships, life problems, and global issues than the average person. It takes a huge toll. Other people’s problems become your own. You anticipate the unlikely and assume the worst. You find yourself searching for noise around you so that it doesn’t get so loud in your head. Being alone with your thoughts seems so dangerous that you would do anything to avoid it.
Why? Because it’s really hard to let go. We’ve all experienced those moments where we felt broken, isolated, and pessimistic that things wouldn’t get better. Whenever we spoke to others about how we felt, we were told the same things. “Just move on already, it’s been 6 months!” or, something I’m guilty of telling myself all the time; “You’re just a speckle on this earth and the earth is a speckle in the universe. It’s not that big of a deal!” (A.K.A. your problems are insignificant). For some people, moving on is like flipping a switch. But for most of us, it’s a much longer process.
Others hold on to the past because they don’t know what it’s like to live a life without being with that same person, doing that same thing, or being in that same place. It’s almost as if where you are will never be as comfortable as where you’ve been. It’s a downward spiral where one thought leads to another and eventually, you find yourself re-evaluating everything you’ve done and said, wishing you could go back in time and get things back to the way they once were.
But one thing I’ve learned throughout my twenty years being on this planet is that time keeps moving, with or without you. They say that time is the best healer because it can make you forgive, it can make you forget, and if you’re lucky, it can make you do both.
In my opinion, it’s a lot more than simply forgiving and forgetting. It’s about reaching that stage where you are comfortable with who you are. The people you are still thinking about are probably going about their day, living in the present moment. The thing that you thought you could’ve done is now an opportunity for someone else as another door awaits for you. Being stuck in the past will not only stop you from living your life, but it will stop you from making sense of your reality.
Life is a story. Each moment is a chapter. In order to keep moving forward, you need to turn the page.