on 'moving on'

Tony & Jessie came to church with me this morning at U.C.C., and then we met up with Jake & Brittany and had lunch at the Incline Public House overlooking the city in the valley below. I ordered a frittata loaded with mushrooms, caramelized onions, spinach, and goat cheese, paired with a cup of fruit. Jake said they have the best burgers in town; I may have to make my way over here after a mile run (beer and burgers after a run ruins the point, but it tastes so much better). Jake & Brittany are moving to Arizona at the end of the month, and I've been considering moving out to Illinois and getting out of Cincinnati and all the poisonous memories associated with this city. I found a quote by Maggie Stiefvater that captures a lot of what I feel: "I thought, possibly, that what I really needed was to go where nobody knew me and start over again, with none of my previous decisions, conversations, or expectations coming with me." I don't want to move where no one knows me, but I would really love to start a new chapter in my life. I thought I was already, but, well, you know where love takes you.

I'm in Blue Ash, and Ben is practicing catch against the side of the covered garage and Jason is taking a bath. I'm sitting here listening to his splashing and the thump thump thump of Ben's ball, all of it blended with the crickets outside the screen door. I'm perusing quotes on "Moving On", and here are some good ones I've found:

Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny. (Steve Maraboli)

Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must learn how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life. (Mary Manin Morrissey)

Loss alone is but the wounding of a heart; it is memory that makes it our ruin. (Brian Ruckley)

The most difficult aspect of moving on is accepting that the other person already did. (Faraaz Kazi)

When someone you love says goodbye you can stare long and hard at the door they closed and forget to see all the doors God has open in front of you. (Shannon L. Alder)

A Plan B life can be just as good or better than a Plan A life. You just have to let go of that first dream and realize that God has already written the first chapter of the new life that awaits you. All you have to do is start reading! (Shannon L. Alder)

One of my favorites comes from Tupac Shakur:

You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even months over-analyzing a situation, trying to put the pieces together, justifying what could've, would've happened... or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move the fuck on.