Moving Forward

In high school, I was on the golf team. I grew up on the course, whether it was riding along in the cart, working at the club, or playing a round or two myself. Golf is one of the only sports where you have the opportunity to walk along and talk with your competitor. While this was not always the case, sometimes it made the sport fun. I met a lot of girls with a wide variety of skills and personalities.

One time, I was walking along side my competition after she had hit an unimpressive worm-burner. She looked over at me and said, "Oh well. My dad always tells me that as long as I'm not hitting it backwards, I'm doing alright." I'm not sure why this comment has stuck with me over the years, but I'm realizing that it applies far beyond the course. No one wants to go backwards -- not when you're golfing, not in life.

Someone once told me that he didn't want to make lateral moves. At the time, I didn't think much of it. I suppose I hadn't really even thought about which direction I was heading. Now it makes a little more sense. We want the choices we make in life to move us forward. There's nothing wrong with looking back because we can learn from past situations. This in turn helps us to move forward as opposed to sideways or even backwards.

Today I am moving to a new place. I'll be teaching in the same school district; I just needed to move for personal reasons. Yesterday I began second guessing my decision. I started to question whether the move was lateral. I might be downsizing in terms of space, but personally, this is something that I need to do. I've put my career first for a while, and it's now time to think about myself. While I still intend to pour my heart and soul into teaching, I also realize that it's also important for me to be my best self. My physical move will also be moving me forward personally.