Being Your Own Hero: Forget and Move On

The strangest wisdom I gained was learning to forget.

Not the denial kind of forgetting, but the art of strategic release…

…knowing when to let memories, friendships, and familiar comforts fade like photographs in sunlight.

While others held tight to what they'd lost, I learned that sometimes wisdom means knowing what to set down.

Each goodbye became easier not because I cared less, but because I understood more…

…that holding on too tightly meant sacrificing what could be.

This wisdom became my secret weapon in adulthood.

Like Muay Thai boxing, you need to know when to advance and when to retreat.

I learned that strategic forgetting could cut both ways…

…sheltering me from past wounds while clearing the path ahead.

It worked not just for handling setbacks, but surprisingly, for managing success too.

Take the day I won a multi-million dollar contract. While others were still basking in the victory, that old military brat wisdom kicked in: forget and move on.

The champagne was still flowing when I started preparing for the real challenge ahead…

…execution.

Sure enough, in the first client meeting, while others were nursing their celebration hangovers, we discovered the client wanted more than what was spelled out in our winning proposal.

Driving back from that meeting, an old military saying echoed in my mind: "Glory is fleeting." The same skill that had helped me leave behind childhood friends now helped me pivot from victory to action, from past achievement to future challenge.

This is the hero's paradox: sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is let go.

Every hero's journey involves leaving something behind…

…a home, a belief, a version of yourself.

The trick is knowing what to keep and what to release. And you never release lessons learned. It's about understanding that forgetting isn't always about loss…

…sometimes it's about making room for what comes next.