Photograph Source: home thods – CC BY 2.0
It is not, as might be supposed, an act of futility to abandon a project that has come to its own natural end. We do however, being creatures who contain within ourselves the sentiment of faithfulness and loyalty, that excite certain emotions of failure and betrayal when we find ourselves at a dead-end, tend towards feelings of guilt and regret as we strive to move into the requirements of our next project or adventure.
Generally speaking, we do not like a sudden end to a thing but prefer a slower exit that allows us to wallow for awhile in the left-overs of what once was dear or important to us.
But there are times when a sudden departure from a thing is the only way forward. Sometimes, whether it is ending an addiction that has been plaguing us, a love affair that is tearing at our souls or a system that is killing the spirit that drives us towards free, healthy and meaningful lives, sometimes, as it has been shown by those who have done it, that the sudden finality of the cold-turkey approach to what we are leaving behind is the surest and ultimately less painful and likewise most successful way to go.
But to focus for a moment on the more positive effects of the change that is undertaken. The sudden and true ending of the one thing then allows us to fully open the door that is bringing us to the path of our next thing be it a healthier life, new relationships or the rearraigning of a system that is broken beyond repair or usefulness. It is counter-productive to the addict, the broken-hearted or the revolutionary spirit to be clinging to that which we are no longer dedicated.
For the addict it is pure folly to return to the vicinity of the dealer, for the lover it tastes of a betrayal of anyone who might arrive to offer us a new chance and the revolutionary simply has no time for the replay of energy spent uselessly towards someone else’s objectives.
There are those times, whether self-afflicted or brought on by outside forces when we must move-on, sink or swim as the saying goes and I do not wish it for you or myself or for the change that so many of us are so deeply longing to see, that we or that redemption that I am thinking of should sink away into the deep water.
As the Elders have taught us, let us be sure to jump into the river, heads-up, eyes open. Swim, dog-paddle, backstroke or float but above all, keep-going, make it to the shore ahead. There will be time for reflection then, once we have arrived, but I don’t think we’ll want to be spending too much time cuddling-up with the past, the present moment, there and then, will be enough.
This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Scott Owen.