“Every exit is an entry somewhere.”
– Tom Stoppard
While driving a car, 99 percent of the time your eyes are looking in one of two places: in the rearview mirror or through the windshield.
The rearview mirror only shows where you have been, the past. It’s a good idea to look there now and again, but if you fix your eyes there too long, you’ll crash.
The windshield shows what is in front of you, including all your options for which road to choose next.
When I was much younger, I used to spend a lot of time looking in the little rearview mirror, dwelling on the past, my mistakes, missed opportunities. I wrung my hands at what I should have done differently. I never obsessed, but I fretted. It never changed a thing.
As I got older, my eyes shifted to the much larger winsdshield, where anything is possible.
You have the choice to focus on what’s behind you — the past, dead and gone — or look forward at where you are now and what lies ahead.
Where are you looking?