Mirrors are for glancing back and the windshield is for seeing where you wanna go!
Any other angsty middle age people out there trying to figure it out? Any other people dissatisfied with their younger years, maybe even the teeniest bit blaming? You know, "Everything would have been different if I had a better family, more money, went to a better college, if people supported me, if I had gotten the help I needed?"
I saw a graduate students research project at the Adler School and she used the analogy of leading your life looking out the front window of your car, not staring at the rear view mirror to try to 'figure it out.' GENIUS. It really got me thinking. Looking out the front window IS the way to go, yet we have all those mirrors, and now cameras, to look behind because it IS important to glance behind you. Orient yourself. See if you the guy behind you is too close, or if the lane next to you is open to move into.
However, mirrors/memories are for glancing, checking in, correcting course, making adjustments. Do we need to speed up, slow down, move over, stay in our lane?
HOWEVER, some of us get mesmerized by the mirrors and only glance out the front window. What's in front of us, the reality we created, the destination of our dreams is out front and we can't get there by looking back. Movement, motion, action create our current reality. If we are obsessed with our past and want to fix, change, figure it out we don't have time or energy to deal with today - and TODAY is where change CAN happen.
And for you "Forward Ho!" folks, you need the mirrors too. We create a better future when we know what came before, what's propelling us forward - is it positive or a waste of our time? Are we ready to shift lanes or is the past too close to us to make the move safely?
Here are my two favorite quotes about being in motion, movement, action. We have to look out our front windshield to drive safely and get and stay in action!
“Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement.” - Alfred Adler
"Clarity comes from engagement, not thought" - Marie Forleo
Now that summer vacation and family travel is upon us let's get in our cars and spend MOST of our time looking out the front window. What's the destination, what's the dream, and let's all ENJOY instead of ANGST.