Back At Square One

"Being back at square one" is a phrase that is often said with derision and interpreted to be a bad thing, as if you have somehow failed or that you have lost something - but when you think about it, being back at square one isn't necessarily a bad thing.  It's an opportunity, some would say a setback but even that you can argue against.

When you move forward through life you choose paths.  You make decisions that lead you further down those paths.  The further you go down a single path however the more your options dwindle and the less direction you can take.  Square one is the only place where you are at your maximum potential - that's a phrase in itself that is often misused.  You are not at your maximum potential when you have achieved all you can, potential is possibility, untapped energy that has yet to be used.  You're standing with the possibility of taking any direction you want.  You can completely change your life.  Potential is the foundation that underpins square one, and ultimately every step you take away from it expends some of that energy in exchange for getting you wherever that step leads you. 

We often walk down paths in life and spend years pursuing something only to fall at the final hurdle or give us along the way or realise that this was not the path we should have taken.  The further you travel the harder it gets to return to square one.  Although never truly impossible it can sometimes feel that way, especially when you reach a dead end and come to a complete stop with nowhere to go.

Is it a setback to return to square one?  Only if you take the same path again yes, otherwise no, as no matter where you were if you were travelling down a path that did not lead to what you ultimately want then every single step is a step no closer.  Being thrown back to square one is not a setback in this sense, if anything it's a step closer to your goal, by putting yourself in a position where you can actually achieve your goal.

In the Big Bang Theory there is a quote where Penny asks Sheldon if he thinks she's made a mistake and his reply was simply, no, and he said: "The best way to achieve a goal is to devote 100% of your time and energy to it."

No matter where you are, if the path you are walking down is not leading where you want to go, then you need to stop and go back to a place where you can actually get where you want to go - that usually means going back to square one.  It can be daunting, ever more so the further down a path you have walked.  You need to focus on what you want in life more than anything and put aside your hang ups and feelings of failure.  The only true failure is the failure to try.  So look on the bright side, look at the possibility, look at the potential and never be disappointed with where you end up.  It's never too late to start again, that's just part of life.  People say you don't often get second chances in life - that's bollocks.  Every single day you wake up you have the chance to change your life - no-one is saying, me least of all, that it will be easy, but the gains outweigh the losses.  You can't put a price on happiness.

Be all you can be and stay positive, even when you are, "back at square one"