I was driving on the highway yesterday as I adjusted my rearview mirror to the honking car behind me. I kept my eyes on the rearview mirror for too long and crashed, totaling my car and injuring my body.
This is a metaphor but very real in that it happens to people every day; you look back for too long, dwelling in the pain of the past as it becomes a habit & nearly impossible to look forward.
What happens when you look back for too long?
You crash.
It’s important to look back every now & then so that you can shift lanes & stay cautious without getting in an accident. Caution is important to moving forward, but too much caution will keep you where you are.
Sometimes by looking back you are just stalling. Sitting. Waiting…Waiting for something to happen, but nothing does, because YOU are the driver. YOU decide where you go.
But it can be difficult to look forward when this ruthless world is quick to punish…
…Especially when you find success.
When you find success you’ll find a crowd of cars tailing you, honking at you, craving your attention. They want you to look back. They don’t want you to follow your vision & move forward. They want you to remember all the pot holes you hit on your way.
How are you responding to the world around you?
Everyone & everything wants your attention.
Are you giving it to them?
Or are you following YOUR vision?
You are the driver of your life. You are empowered.
Keep looking forward and I’ll see you on the highway.
Quotes on not looking back
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”
Helen Keller“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”
C.S. Lewis“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”
Albert Einstein“The great courageous act that we must all do, is to have the courage to step out of our history and past so that we can live our dreams.”
Oprah Winfrey“We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.”
Rick Warren“If you want to live your life in a creative way, as an artist, you have to not look back too much. You have to be willing to take whatever you’ve done and whoever you were and throw them away.”
Steve Jobs“Never look back unless you are planning on going that way.”
Henry David Thoreau“If you look back, you’ll soon be going that way.”
Proverb“We ought not to look back, unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors and for the purpose of profiting by dear bought experience.”
George Washington“Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny.”
Steve Maraboli“I feel confident imposing change on myself. It’s a lot more fun progressing than looking back.”
David Bowie“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
Mother Theresa
Here are 3 things you can do to live a life you won’t regret living!
With Ken Thompson 