GO BACK
According to C.S. Lewis (whom I blame for this post) there are times when the quickest way to one’s objective is to go backward.
I’ve done it, so have you. I made a wrong turn. It won’t help to speed up because I’d only be going the wrong direction faster.
And if you’ve ever lived somewhere where the roads do not run parallel you know that THIS way will never get you THERE. I live in one of those areas presently. If I want to go to BTown, there is only one road which will certainly get me there. There may be a second road, if I know the area extremely well, which could work if I took a few jags and back trails. But, really, if you take any other turns you just will not get to where you want to go, no matter how fast you drive.
The only thing to do is GO BACK. Go back to where you made the wrong turn and correct your error. In fact, it is not only sensible, it is the quickest way to achieve the goal without circumnavigating the entire planet.
Going back has one other thing in its favor. It may be the only RIGHT way to go, now that you are HERE.
I learned this long ago when doing multiple-step problems. At the point where I knew I made a mistake it was best to go back to the beginning. Or, if I had written down my steps, go back to the last point where I was certainly on the right course.
Taking another thought from Lewis: It is OK to be “progressive,” I suppose, if that doesn’t mean “stubborn.” At the point where you realize that this isn’t working (Gavin Newsom) the very next step should be retreat!
(Yup! I shamelessly brought politics into a discussion. But honestly, Gov. Gavin, businesses are leaving your state by the hundreds because of your decisions. It should be time to stop and evaluate if THIS is the direction to your goal. Actually, politics is not a bad sub-subject for this discussion. Somehow politicians tend to think that they can solve everything by passing a new law or increasing taxes or spending just a ton and a half more. Mostly they are wrong. I can think of three things politicians have done in the past year which should be immediately undone. The way forward is going in reverse!)
It is time to go back in public schools, too. I’ve said it before, schools are not improving outcomes. They did from 1900 to 1960. They have been dis-improving ever since. Since the 1970s an ungodly number of kids have not been taught to read (millions of ’em). COVID shut downs made it far worse. Some are prophesying that those students now in the lower grades will be unmarketable come their graduations. They don’t know how to relate to others. The schools made “moving ahead” softer. As a result, many 6th graders don’t know stuff 6th graders are supposed to know. They will never know those things.
There already are many things we didn’t learn in school. I never knew there was a distinct difference between “baking” and “roasting.” It was a serious lack in my Home Ec knowledge. Then we got a newfangled oven. There are two buttons: “Bake” and “Roast.” No explanation was offered in the owner’s manual, so I looked it up. And at age NOW I found there is little difference, except in temperature. Apparently, “roast” means over 400 degrees. I just always followed what the recipe said. Now, I have to choose the correct button, then set the temperature. (I don’t think this is an improvement over just setting the temperature. Do you?)
Current 6th graders will have a whole dump truck of such facts and concepts that they won’t know which other 6th graders before them DID know. If I was hiring a young adult in, say, 8 or 9 years, I likely wouldn’t hire this bunch either. The schools should go back and teach these kids what they missed. If they don’t they will have condemned them to economic deficiency for their whole lives. Education between 1900 and 1960 is what dragged millions of people out of poverty. And now it is “education” which will condemn them to it again. In this we need to GO BACK! Slow down, turn around, and go back to where it all went haywire. There’s no other solution.
Over the years I have trained many newly hired. I knew almost instantly which ones would succeed. – If he got into the truck with 24 ounces of liquid in a thermos, I knew he was not a serious worker. His only thought all day would be “Where’s the next bathroom?” I’m not against hydrating, but c’mon! – If he spent more time looking at his phone than listening to my instructions, I knew I would forever be his “lifeline” when he got into a situation where he should know something … – If he did not know that God gave him two ears and one mouth for a reason, he would never listen to customers. It turned out that the best trainees were those who took careful notes. Whenever they got stuck when on their own, they could GO BACK to what they were told. It is at least ONE of the right ways.
If you get lost on a trail and you don’t know the way to go … going back is at least ONE right way to get you back to your car.
The Beetles had one smart idea with that song, “Get back! Get back! Get back to where you once belonged…” Sometimes it is the only way forward.
Relationships could be saved. Finances healed. Hopes renewed. Heroic stories could be told. You won’t have it all, but you’ll have enough. Going back is the perfect solution when you are going the wrong way.
[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere.
ALSO, Don is always open to offer his thoughts on various topics. If you have a specific request, you can let him know in a comment; he reads – and replies to – them all. ~ Sherry]
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