There are ideas we encounter that seem to explain everything for a time. They give shape to questions we’ve carried for years, offer language for things we’ve sensed but couldn’t articulate, or open doors into entirely new ways of seeing. But even the most compelling idea can become another place to stop moving. What once expanded us can eventually become another boundary if we become too attached to it.

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I’ve written many times about the idea of not lingering with regard to seeking the truth in all things. But it applies to life in general, really. Wherever we may go, whatever we may learn, and especially when it comes to things that are profound and foundational, such as death, or perhaps near-death experiences.

I went through a minor phase in the last year or so where I did a bit of a deep dive into these ideas, and before long, the stories and the patterns emerge. The cracks start to show. The distortions and inversions present themselves if you’re willing to see them. Those questions you’re not supposed to ask. Those uncomfortable realizations that come up time and time again in interviews or testimonials.

You may even feel some disappointment because perhaps you found something that finally felt true and profound and transformational. And it certainly would be, especially when it comes to the ideas of life and death: what came before and what may come after.

But as with most anything in this realm, in this human experience, what we get is what we expect to get. What we predominantly attract toward us will be that which we’ve been primarily saturated with in our lived experience, and that will be contingent upon what you choose to focus on, commit to, take to heart, strongly believe in, and, of course, what you fear. And also what you think you love.

And the power behind the idea of not lingering is the idea of freeing ourselves from unnecessary attachment, whether psychological, emotional, or spiritual.

We are highly adaptable in this realm, and that is by necessity. Our bodies are highly adaptable. Our minds, our spirits, and our inbuilt energy systems are highly adaptable. We can live and thrive and subsist on virtually any kind of diet based on availability and environment. We can heal from essentially any sickness, illness, or disease simply through awareness of it and our relationship to it.

And it’s the same, presumably, when it comes to the ideas of life beyond this place. Life before the human expression, and life after.

But again, this can apply to virtually anything in our lives.

In my view, we do a disservice to ourselves if we linger too long in any one position, any one belief, any particular framework or paradigm. And this isn’t to say that some of them couldn’t indeed serve us for an entire lifetime. That is where the idea of true commitment would come from. And that will require discipline, rigorousness, vigilance, and persistent effort to maintain it, or to refine and improve upon it.

But if we aren’t willing to test or challenge, revise our position, or even throw away ideas that are doing us harm, what does it benefit us to force upon ourselves a certain expression, belief system, or paradigm?

This is, of course, unique to every individual. For as much as this is a collective human expression, it is unmistakably unique to each and every one of us who comes to an awareness of it. In an era of overwhelming data and information, statistics, research, and measurements, it’s very easy to become overwhelmed, saturated, and inundated with all sorts of ideas about what is, what should be, and what we ought to pursue, prioritize, and value. So it is in this very same era that we must raise the bar for ourselves. Hone our skills of discernment, judgment, and clarity.

We can wear the costume or the mask for a time, but it may become increasingly uncomfortable. It would seem to profit us immensely not to become too attached to any one of these superficialities.

What is true is true, and it will always surface in one way or another.

Those who seek only profit and control for their own sake are ready and prepared to take advantage of our stagnancy, complacency, complicity, indecisiveness, apathy, and ennui.

So consider where you may be lingering, and where it may be time to move along.

This one life is very short when you put it in the proper perspective, and no tomorrow is ever guaranteed. Beyond that, it behooves us to have gratitude and to truly and deeply savor every moment.

It will never come again.

But don’t linger.

Solvitur ambulando