April 26, 2010

Prompt: Sometimes moving ahead means looking back.

Sometimes moving ahead means looking back. The tired poster seemed to reach out to her from across the room. Meg stared at the faded lettering and the corners slightly bent into a curl.

Old words, she thought, but couldn't take her eyes away. "I'm so drained" she heard herself say out loud to no one.

It had been months since her last job ended. With no particular prospects in sight, Meg felt more alone in the crowded coffee shop than she did at home. Home...now there was a loose term these days. The couch at her Mom's, the spare bed in the basement of her sister’s, and once even the floor of her friend Sarah's cottage had all been 'home' to her since she lost her house to foreclosure.

"I don't know if I want to look back" she sighed, but the words kept repeating over and over in her head. Would she find an answer by looking back? Or, would it just be a rerun of the same dismal, horrid, one act play that she continuously replayed in her head?

"Are you next?" Meg heard from behind. I hope so, was all she could think.
--Nancy Janssen RBWG member

* * *

Sometimes moving ahead means looking back. If there is ever a time to reflect, it is a time of change. To move forward, we have to consider all our present possibilities and weigh them. Most of us don't like change, especially big change, and we like it even less as we age. But as the house becomes too big to take care of, or the stairs become cumbersome or the painting jobs are calling out, we evaluate. How comfortable it would be to stay put and continue on our present path, no matter the problems.

Do we decide by our rational minds and move forward, or do we give in to our feelings and get stuck where we are, possibly the best place to be? We'll never know if we've made the right decision. We only know that we needed to look back to decide.
--Elizabeth Bell

* * *

Sometimes moving ahead means looking back. Lots of us get motivated by fear. There's the bogey man in the closet. There's Santa Claus, ever ready to hold back on the largesse if you're bad, always checking to see if you're naughty or nice. There are the somber nuns in grade school, always ready introduce you to the discipline that they just know will keep you on the straight and narrow. What if your offenses, whatever they are, went into your "permanent record." If you're suggestable, you find yourself virtually running for your life, hoping to keep a few steps ahead of the legion of retributions you just know is on your trail. What if you got all A's? The fear of that B or C orbiting out there like a bomb-laden B-52 can be very chilling. Then is the time to stop, to look back carefully, and to see, at last, that the path behind you is clear, to see that there is time to amble along and look at the verges.
--Tom Hoyer, RBWG member

* * *

Sometimes moving ahead means looking back. Yes, we continue to run as fast as possible to get away from those who made us what we are. We run trying to do everything differently from what they taught us. No, Aunt Rose, I no longer grease my hair with Suave or even try to keep my hair under control. Also, I have never worn gloves to work, which you would find very hard to believe. But, trust me, no other woman has worn gloves to work either in the past 40 years. In fact, I no longer go to work. Mother would be upset about that, still expecting disaster to strike at any moment. I should continue to work so I can continue to squirrel away money for use in outrunning the Cossacks and paying off the Christians.

Are my relatives dead? No, in fact, I am still trying to run away from them, although I am slower now and they seem to have gotten faster.
--Joanne Sinsheimer, RBWG member

* * *

I have tried to forgive and forget, but have mastered neither. What you took from me was all I had to give. It hurt to see you go. Still, I remain the incurable romantic with a place in my heart that ignites every time I see you -- even after all these years. It's ironic that one of the first things we're taught when venturing into the outside world is to look both ways before crossing the street, but nobody warns us that sometimes moving ahead means looking back and how easy it is to get run over by a pocketful of memories.
--Jim Van Loozen, RBWG Member

* * *

Sometimes moving ahead means looking back. We find ourselves in passageways passing doorways with unfamiliar names. Which one to open? What to find there? We try to move ahead and yet keep looking over our shoulder now and then, as if the past will make sense of what lies ahead. Maybe mistakes help us to avoid that same path but something new? That’s when you need to make a leap of faith (in yourself) and hope for a soft landing.
--Eileen Callan, RBWG memer

* * *




April 26, 2010 Prompt: Sometimes moving ahead means looking back. Sometimes moving ahead means looking back. The tired poster seemed to reach out to her from across the room. Meg stared at the faded lettering and the corners slightly bent into a curl. Old words, she thought, but couldn't take her eyes away. "I'm so drained" she heard herself say out loud to no one. It had been months since her last job ended. With no particular prospects in sight, Meg felt more alone in the crowded coffee shop than she did at home. Home...now there was a loose term these days. The couch at her Mom's, the spare bed in the basement of her sister’s, and once even the floor of her friend Sarah's cottage had all been 'home' to her since she lost her house to foreclosure. "I don't know if I want to look back" she sighed, but the words kept repeating over and over in her head. Would she find an answer by looking back? Or, would it just be a rerun of the same dismal, horrid, one act play that she continuously replayed in her head? "Are you next?" Meg heard from behind. I hope so, was all she could think. --Nancy Janssen RBWG member * * * Sometimes moving ahead means looking back. If there is ever a time to reflect, it is a time of change. To move forward, we have to consider all our present possibilities and weigh them. Most of us don't like change, especially big change, and we like it even less as we age. But as the house becomes too big to take care of, or the stairs become cumbersome or the painting jobs are calling out, we evaluate. How comfortable it would be to stay put and continue on our present path, no matter the problems. Do we decide by our rational minds and move forward, or do we give in to our feelings and get stuck where we are, possibly the best place to be? We'll never know if we've made the right decision. We only know that we needed to look back to decide. --Elizabeth Bell * * * Sometimes moving ahead means looking back. Lots of us get motivated by fear. There's the bogey man in the closet. There's Santa Claus, ever ready to hold back on the largesse if you're bad, always checking to see if you're naughty or nice. There are the somber nuns in grade school, always ready introduce you to the discipline that they just know will keep you on the straight and narrow. What if your offenses, whatever they are, went into your "permanent record." If you're suggestable, you find yourself virtually running for your life, hoping to keep a few steps ahead of the legion of retributions you just know is on your trail. What if you got all A's? The fear of that B or C orbiting out there like a bomb-laden B-52 can be very chilling. Then is the time to stop, to look back carefully, and to see, at last, that the path behind you is clear, to see that there is time to amble along and look at the verges. --Tom Hoyer, RBWG member * * * Sometimes moving ahead means looking back. Yes, we continue to run as fast as possible to get away from those who made us what we are. We run trying to do everything differently from what they taught us. No, Aunt Rose, I no longer grease my hair with Suave or even try to keep my hair under control. Also, I have never worn gloves to work, which you would find very hard to believe. But, trust me, no other woman has worn gloves to work either in the past 40 years. In fact, I no longer go to work. Mother would be upset about that, still expecting disaster to strike at any moment. I should continue to work so I can continue to squirrel away money for use in outrunning the Cossacks and paying off the Christians. Are my relatives dead? No, in fact, I am still trying to run away from them, although I am slower now and they seem to have gotten faster. --Joanne Sinsheimer, RBWG member * * * I have tried to forgive and forget, but have mastered neither. What you took from me was all I had to give. It hurt to see you go. Still, I remain the incurable romantic with a place in my heart that ignites every time I see you -- even after all these years. It's ironic that one of the first things we're taught when venturing into the outside world is to look both ways before crossing the street, but nobody warns us that sometimes moving ahead means looking back and how easy it is to get run over by a pocketful of memories. --Jim Van Loozen, RBWG Member * * * Sometimes moving ahead means looking back. We find ourselves in passageways passing doorways with unfamiliar names. Which one to open? What to find there? We try to move ahead and yet keep looking over our shoulder now and then, as if the past will make sense of what lies ahead. Maybe mistakes help us to avoid that same path but something new? That’s when you need to make a leap of faith (in yourself) and hope for a soft landing. --Eileen Callan, RBWG memer * * * Back to the Prompt Page
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