There’s a stretch of road just at my town’s end that connects Wyoming to Idaho. It’s known as the Pass. Soaring boldly through the mountains, a magazine article just described it as either “one of the most beautiful, exciting commutes in the country, or one of the most stressful and potentially dangerous”.

Isn’t that sort of the same way life is? Either gorgeously or treacherously composed, depending on your perspective. And it seems fitting to talk about perspective, as we enter a brand new year. I’ve had friends kindly tell me that I’m always able to offer the bright side to their situations. I just wish I was always able to offer it to myself. Because whereas compassion for others seems essential, self compassion seems an almost unrealistic luxury. To make room for it, where would I put all the alternate courses of action swirling in my mind, so brilliantly clear in hindsight? I literally laid awake for hours the other night, composing a list of all the things I could have done differently. And then of the time I wasted, and then of the time I wasted thinking about the time I wasted.

But another thing about that crazy Pass through the mountains– 10,000 years of human travel later (really! Native Americans!) and folks still don’t have it figured out. Actually 30 years ago they built a bridge over a portion to try to improve the winter conditions, and when the bridge was almost at completion, it collapsed into nothing. Isn’t that how we all feel sometimes? Having gone so far just to look back at the rumble.

But guess what– the Pass is still open. 5,000 people traverse it every day. And do they think about that bridge and how much better the path could potentially be? Nah. They make the best of the literal road ahead of them, and that’s what we need to do too.

I’m not entering 2018 with full pride and assurance in my actions and my decisions. I don’t even think, I actually know there are ways I could have done things differently, better. But also, I know I’m almost entirely the only one who cares. Because try as we might to seem so unique in our missteps, that’s actually what makes us most alike.

Moment of Gratitude: We are all driving the Pass, guarding one and another from avalanches, appearing on the other side dirty and tired but mostly OK. Never forget that we, and this road we’re on, are all OK.