Looking forward not looking back

As we reach the two-year anniversary mark since we went into lockdown and we start to emerge into a place where restrictions have been lifted, we can feel a mixture of different emotions from relief and happiness to anxiety and apprehension. Perhaps one other emotion that is present is disappointment. The disappointment of things that we had hoped for to happen over the past couple of years but haven’t, or disappointment because of missed or lost opportunities, or life not being where we thought it would be by now, or as we emerge life is looking different from two years ago, and perhaps we are longing to go back to what was before the pandemic. Maybe we even have a number of those ‘what if’ questions unanswered.

However, when we keep looking back, we can miss the opportunities that are right in front of us, we can become stuck or even become paralysed by fear in a place that we are not meant to be in.

“There’s a reason why your windshield is bigger than your rear-view mirror. Where you’re going is more important than where you came from.”

If we kept looking in our rear-view mirror whilst driving it would become dangerous and we wouldn’t see what was right in front of us or ahead on the road. Letting go can be painful, it is a journey, however, if we keep looking back and holding onto the things that were, we can miss out on the journey that is in front and ahead of us.

I was recently listening to a talk by Christine Caine, a Christian speaker and writer and was challenged by the idea that we need to stop looking back, not longing for what was but instead longing for what is. Looking forwards to all that is ahead of us.

Christine Caine gave an image of drawing a line in the sand and letting go of things that perhaps are weighing us down or unhelpful things in the past that we are still clinging onto, encouraging us to step over that line into something new to move forwards. Looking to what is not what was.

Yes, it might look different, but that is ok and although change can feel overwhelming at times, change can also bring us new opportunities. As we take that step into the future, over the line in the sand, let’s look forward not backwards; long for what is and not what was; and embrace the new and all that is ahead.

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