How to move on in life

I realized the truth of the above statement about moving on, after I retired. A month into retirement, it suddenly felt disheartening that the fun of lazing around (and as many would say enjoying retired life) was slowly ebbing and time started weighing heavily on me. I missed the routine, the camaraderie at work, the thrill of achieving something tangible and the focus and purpose that the work environment extended to me. It then dawned on me, that there is no turning back the clock; all I could do was reinvent myself to do what I always fancied but never dared.

When you realize that there is no turning back, it comes as a shock. However, if you can, as Rudyard Kipling says in his poem IF ‘If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs’ you will realize that there is one way forward ‘ move on. The pink slip is the dreaded plague of the corporate world. The recent pandemic has made many a corporate and small businesses, use a wide hue of pink slips, making it a near blood bath for those laid off. The point is that one cannot simply rue one’s fate or wistfully hope for redemption. The harsh reality is that it is time to move on.

When one has to move on there are three things that one needs to keep in mind.

No looking back – The past is history and while one can learn lessons from history, wistful thinking about the good old days is neither productive nor does it lead to a proactive response. At best it can be a guidepost for you to make a note of what you did not do right and the strengths and excellence you were appreciated for. This will give you clues to the next step that you need to take i.e. visualizing possibilities for you to explore. Remember H W Longfellow’s immortal lines in his poem a Psalm of Life – “ Let the dead past bury it’s dead”

Scan for opportunities– Once you stop looking back you have only two options; live every day and look forward to tomorrow. To make both these engaging, productive and beneficial for you, you should visualize possibilities that align with your interests and passions. Within those possibilities scan for opportunities that you would best fit in or can make use of. Now you have a goal, motivation and enthusiasm to move on by utilizing your time, your skill sets and self-worth. Again take inspiration from Longfellow when he says ‘But to act, that each tomorrow Find us farther than today.

Have self-belief – You move forward when you have the self-belief that you have identified the right way forward and you are going to make a success of it. Many a time, the thoughts of the good old days, the yesteryear nostalgia and the pining for the past will overwhelm you. That is when your self-belief that you can create an even better world for yourself, should envelop you and you start mentally looking forward to enjoying every moment of your time. Self-belief is more than mere confidence; it is the warm feeling of confidence producing anticipated results that you are experiencing mentally even before you get to taste success. Longfellow again gives you the key to self-belief when he states Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.

Try these:

Read the poem IF by Rudyard Kipling https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46473/if— and A Psalm of Life by H W Longfellow https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44644/a-psalm-of-life
Do you have a bucket list of things to do? If not create one. The next step is to begin working on at least one item in the bucket list that you have to complete this year.
You need to have a plan to also attempt something that will enable you to explore beyond your comfort zone. Try and attempt that too before the year end.