My dad knew only one direction. Forward.
When I was growing up, I’d ask him if we would ever go back to India and visit whatever distant second cousins or great aunts and uncles he had there.
“You go ahead,” he’d say. “I’ll fly to Miami and go on a cruise.”
His idea of pleasure was baked Alaska served with a twinkling sea out the little porthole window. His memories of India were congestion, pollution, and poverty. He wasn’t interested in going back physically—and he wasn’t interested in going back mentally, either.
So we never visited.
Forward.
He knew what was worth worrying about and what wasn’t.
He knew what was important and what wasn’t.
He knew what was essential and that was to just keep moving forward.
When I struggle, when I hit a wall, when I get fired, when I miss a chance, when I feel like I wake up in the morning and am starting from scratch again… I think of my dad and his one-direction-only motto.
It’s the final step to remember on the path to awesome.
The fact is we can only ever really go forward.
So the point is to just start going that way.
And never, never stop.