RESOLVE to Live Forward

Yes, 2026 has arrived. The more things "seem" to change the more they remain unchanged, but that doesn't have to mean that we stay the same. A New Year is a New Opportunity. Today we talk of things already shared. We also talk of things added to what we've already shared. Let's begin with a fresh and meaningful outlook for 2026.

I have learned that grief and sorrow are not exclusive to the death of a cherished loved one. Throughout our lives we are impacted by grief events that cover a multitude of painful, heartbreaking results. The issue we must confront is finding a way to LIVE FORWARD with the loss and avoid the tendency to simply give up and quit. Remember, I said Living Forward is a choice. I hope you'l join me as we look within ourselves and find a way to live forward with the loss. 

The 5000 foot view of the lives around us reveals a surprising fact. There are 1000's of people who have experienced sorrow, pain, anguish, and more. They are just like us. It's not just about what happens to all of us. It's about what we do with what happends to us, and that process takes some very harsh and painful work. Even more important, we can't do it entirely on our own. We will need help. The first CHOICE must be to realize we need the help and seek that help. If we don't find a way to move forward with our sorrow, the sorrow will make the choice for us. 

Random events are as varied as people. Random events are everything from a delightful surprise to a life-changing devastation. At it's most simple level, when a traumatic event plunges us into the depths of sorrow, we have only two choices. We either find a way to move forward with the sorrow, or that sorrow will make the choice for us. Lets share our stories of the amazing and the devastating. We all have more than a few of them. 

I recently heard it said that if you don't choose to move forward with your grief and sorrow, that grief and sorrow will make the choice for you. That's my 5000 foot view. Everyone has or will experience deep, heartbreaking sorrow. Today we talk about choices and consequences. Living Forward is a CHOICE. Staying stuck in your sorrow will allow that pain to makee the choice for you. It's possible for you to take control and create a better outcome.

For me, the longer I live, the more I realize that grief touches so much more than just when someone or something (living) dies. Death takes the form of so many things. I don't want to get you in a sad, dark place, but we all have experienced many very painful and heartbreaking situations for which we still feel a deep sadness. That sorrow is grief. We will experience more griefs moments as we live more days, weeks, months, and tears. It's not just about what happens to us. It truly is about what we do with what happens to us. Living Forward, after heartbreak, is hard work. Let's look at it and share in it. 

To begin the process of living forward after a devestating loss is realize that we can't leave the loss behind. You don't move on past it, you move forward with it. However, it's even more important to understand that grief is so much more than just about a "death" event. Yes, the death of someone or something (pet) we love unconditionally is TRAUMA! But grief is not just about death. Grief is LOSS. The loss of of something we found precious. And so, it begins. First we define and understand, then we start moving forward.

Today we start unpacking the struggle of dealing with the "What Now" question after having suffered a devastating and tragic loss. There are a miriad of problems that bring us to a grinding halt after these losses. Finding the means to live forward and do so with meaningful purpose is hard work. One podcast episode will not address these heartbreaking situations, but we can talk about how the RESOLVE mindset and Seven Best Behaviors can give us a process for moving forward intentionally. And so we begin today. Please listen, and I welcome your input and feedback to my email, [email protected]. 

As we enter the last two months of 2025, I am reminded of November 2017 when I decided to stop failing at New Years resolutions and found success with a PowerWord for Living. Perhaps this might be the new path to you living forward with success. Let's talk about the potential power in your PowerWord. 

It's easy to tell you what can work for you. It's an entirely different thing for any of us to actually do it. As we wrap up this deep-dive into the PowerWord "RESOLVE" and the seven personal, behavioral best praactices embodied in the letters of "RESOLVE", I hope to help us all understand that we will not always feel like being enthusiastic about each day of our lives. It's not a magic formula. It's a choice, I found it works for me, and I believe it can work for you.