“Having a positive image can be really helpful in dark times.”
March Forth is easily my favorite day of the year. Why? To me, it’s about moving forward. It’s about recovering from a setback instead of wallowing in self-pity and feeling like a victim.
Years ago, my family suffered a significant tragedy. My older brother passed away.
Several years after he passed, if you saw me around, I was constantly talking about my loss. I was devastated, and I let people know about it. But after a while, I started listening to other people around me about challenges they were trying to overcome, which I had never attempted to understand before. I was going through my own challenges, and I couldn’t hear anything else.
Close friends and acquaintances were overcoming loss just like me, yet many remained positive and were moving forward with their lives. That’s why March Forth is a reminder to me that we can march forth.
For years on March Forth, I would celebrate my brother’s life by doing all kinds of things for myself. I would take myself to dinner, go on forgiveness walks, read inspirational books, and eat some of my brother’s favorite foods. I did this privately mostly because it inspired me to move forward.
When I later met my amazing wife, Claire, she asked about MarchForth and why I celebrated it so privately. She encouraged me to celebrate it publicly to help others move forward, just like I was trying to do.
Thinking back to those dark times, my private celebrations were a great experience and a fantastic lesson about moving forward. Everyone has to recover in their own way, but it’s helpful to have a Bamboo Circle to support in those challenging times.
So for this March Forth, I encourage you to reflect and think about something that inspires you to keep moving forward. Think about a time you fought through a challenging time and bounced back. Use that as a starting point to March Forth.
March Forth is about resilience, mental toughness, and overcoming challenges. We all have struggled at times, and, as human beings, that’s what we all have in common with each other. We’re all going through something, and we can take the next step to move forward, whatever that looks like.
Here are a few lessons I have learned about marching forth that I want to share with you:
Focus on the lessons learned from setbacks.
Look to others going through challenges of their own, and offer support. We’re not the only ones struggling.
Don’t expect everyone to understand our struggles.
Lean into your relationships and those that can support you and your strengths to move forward positively. Having a positive image of yourself can be very helpful in dark times.
Focus on what you can control. There are so many things we cannot control in this life, so focus on the things you can.
Remember, good things will happen when you March Forth and take strides towards bigger things. I promise.
This post is based on a podcast episode by Greg Bell.
Listen below for the full episode: