Imagine for a moment that you are made of Velcro.
Everyone knows what Velcro is right?
For example – think about this circular hand held item you put on your one of your hands and then throw a ball back and forth and all you need to do is come somewhere close to the ball and it sticks to the Velcro mitt.
Now imagine you are made of Velcro and anything that comes close to you sticks to you! Not only does it stick to you, it is difficult to remove it as it stays with you. Over time you begin to be weighed down by all of these items which are getting stuck to you.
What if you were at a beach with seaweed and all of the seaweed was sticking to your Velcro suit?
Now back to the real world – we are not made of Velcro – thank goodness!
For some reason many of us hold grudges, keep alive old negative images of people and their past behavior or actions. Now understand this is not a total forgiveness diatribe. What is being asked is why do we weigh ourselves down with the past? It does not serve us well or in fact it does not serve us in any capacity at all!
An illegal activity, brutal actions, or borderline personality issues would be the exception. Otherwise, why not look at today and look at the future and the potential. Do you have any idea how many people from my previous experiences have crossed paths with me and the conversation just flows from where we are now and where we are going.
How about you? Don’t you run into people often who you may have either lost track of or just have not seen in person for many years? Do you want to meet them with the weight of the items stuck to a Velcro suit or with a clean, lean slate open to opportunities? A good memory for faces, names and facts is important to have. A lot of the rest is really excess baggage we need to lose faster than an airline does.
Think about it this way – it you are a runner and you lose twenty pounds – don’t you feel lighter on your feet and feel you are running the same distance almost effortlessly? This is what is being discussed here. As they say in Brooklyn, NY – Fuh Get About Id!
It is water over the dam! It is water under the bridge! Just shrug it off.
Yes, you are being heard – Mitch, easier said than done my friend. Of course it is! If this was easy we wouldn’t be talking about it and everyone would do it! Give it a try – as you will stand out!
Some of the most senior level people in business and politics would be well served to try to engage in forming this habit. Try it out yourself first!
Mitch Tublin runs a boutique consulting firm with a main focus on serving leaders in their personal development, emotional intelligence in the workplace and business advisory services.
Excellent message. People often ask about my past; but it’s sad. Why would I want to talk about that when I could talk about today or the future. The past can’t be changed; but today and the future hold wonderful possibilities.
Liz – you are so right to look ahead into the future. This is where you are going – right!
Put all of your energy into it!