Life Goes On

Robert Frost, one of my favorite poets, said very practically, "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life:  It Goes On."  I've been thinking a lot about ol' Robert's sentiment.  I think an overthinker like me could learn much from this practical point of view.  

I spend plenty of time wondering what might have been or what could be, if only.  I've had wonderful

and amazing things happen to me. I've been misunderstood, and I have misunderstood.  I've been hurt by people I trusted.  I've lost people I loved.  I've had exciting victories, and I've fallen on my behind in crushing embarrassment.  I've learned lessons quickly, and I've stubbornly refused to learn lessons over and over again.  And through all of this, life has gone on.

When I was a kid, I used to wish I lived on the TV show Little House on the Prairie.  The thing about Little House was that no matter the perils or trials the characters faced, the show always ended in a good place.  Usually with an exterior shot of their farmhouse with the voice over of the family conversing - or the rise of hopeful music.  Everything always came to a nice, neat close.  You knew when the conflict was resolved.  

Real life doesn't work that way.  Sometimes, you can pinpoint an "official" end to an episode of your life, but it's usually in hindsight.  You wake up one day and realize that the thoughts that had been troubling your mind haven't been haunting you for a while.  Or the twinge of pain you used to feel when you think about that thing doesn't seem quite so sharp.  It's not until you get on the other side of these things that you realize you really have made it through.

Because life just goes on.  One step leads to the next.  One decision leads you down a new path.  And if you're lucky, as life goes on, you pick up some new skills.  You gain some new insight.  You learn how to avoid some of those mistakes you made.  

I've come to believe that the things that affect us deeply don't ever heal completely.  There will always be that twinge of pain, that rush of embarrassment, that gasp of excitement.  But life goes on.  To dwell on the past doesn't serve anyone.  The best thing you can do is hold on to the people and things that are important to you, let go of the things and people that need to be set free, and roll on.  

Because ready or not, life goes on.