“We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.”

                   – Clive Sinclair Lewis (1899—1963)

We’ve all done it—gone the wrong way, that is. We thought we knew our way and we just got on the wrong road and got lost. “Over the river and through the woods to grandma’s house we…, can’t remember.”

Some of us start down our life’s journey and discover this is not the road we want to travel. Our hearts, our passions and interests lie in a completely different direction. But now we have so much invested in this journey; we have so many responsibilities. So we keep on keeping on…, the wrong road, at least for us.

It takes a lot of courage to admit you’re on the wrong road, even when others point it out to you. You soooo want it to be the right road, but you know, deep within, it isn’t. It takes even more courage to turn around, head back, and start heading in a totally different and untried direction. Thomas Edison said he learned to make the electric light bulb 9,999 ways— wrong; the next time he got it right.

Turning around may involve sacrificing some security, depending on others more than you’d like to, even going back to school for re-training. It will be exciting, frightening, and make you wonder if you’re still in your right mind. If you were in your right mind you would never have done this, but for that inner voice that summons you to step out in faith and be different. Ask Henry Ford (if he were still alive), Steve Jobs, Martin Cooper, Mark Zuckerman, or the Neanderthal woman who figured out that cooking food meant her man just might live longer. They all had to stop, turn around, and start again.

Is it that difficult? Yeah, it is. And worth every expenditure of capital, energy, and personal security. Because when you are fulfilling your passion, your dream, you have one of those Ah-Ha! moments that ignite a flame in your heart and head that tells you— So that’s what I’m designed to do!?! Now you’ve got it right.

For what it’s worth,

Gary