How do you know if you’re going in the right direction?

Especially when so much tells you you’re going the wrong way?

Do you ever feel like you have the world on your shoulders? You’re carrying your own weight plus that of those around you, even those around you who are close to you because maybe they’re not going in the same direction as you are. Maybe they’re even pushing back, trying to hold you down, maybe even push you back to where you came from, to the way things were. Back to the past.

What if they think that’s the way to go but you don’t want to go that way? Not only do you not want to go that way, you’re just not going to go that way–no matter what. It’s no longer an option. It’s not just if or when, it’s just not going to happen. Returning to the past is not on the table.

Detour?

Can you change course? Can you adapt? Can you listen to the advice of others and take that into consideration? Of course.

But occasionally, you just know what you need to do. When you know that, feel that, live that and breathe that, then it doesn’t terribly matter what others think or say or do because you know what you have to do and that you’re the one who has to do it.

You’re dragging the wagon behind you but the wheels are square. Someone keeps pouring cement into it. You’re on a sand dune. You’re going up the sand dune. One step forward, two steps back. But there’s still that one step forward.

Is it just a game of will? Is it persistence and patience and pure brawn? Yes.

But that game of will is just that: a game. At some point, you’ll be at the top of the sand dune, your shoes full of more sand than foot, you feel like you can’t take another step and you hesitate, you ponder, you waver, but you take that last step when you’re about to throw in the towel (if you even have a towel left at this point).

Summit

Then the sand moves under your feet and you’re sliding down. The wagon’s square wheels turn to skis and they slide so fast that soon it’s going faster than you are and you have to hop in. At that point, you have nothing to do but steer and hold on.

Nothing could stop you going up and now nothing can stop you going down. But now you have the momentum and the hard work paid off. Take the scenic route down and take your time. Guide your way through any obstacles and rap the knuckles of those hangers-on if they’re still slowing you down. They’ll eventually fall off.

The secret is that this is it. There is no destination. The downhill is the goal. Navigating and enjoying the path is where you want to be. There is no, “Are we there yet?” because you are already there.