But I want to be honest about two things: 1) Sometimes it really sucks. And 2) Usually No. 1 doesn't really matter. I've done a lot of thinking--and unintentional learning--about the importance of moving forward lately. The more crucial it feels to me, the more anti-human-nature I think it is.

Now we can debate all day about the pros and cons of growing up with a psychologist for a father, but overall, I didn't find it too scarring. Except for one thing that I still hear in my head, in his voice, that used to absolutely drive me up the wall: Press the 'clear' button. "Kate, just press the 'clear' button and move on." Don't necessarily forgive or forget--or maybe do--but for god's sake move on from this, and do it quickly.

Fast forward, like, 15 years to this past Saturday. (I wish I had a picture of this to share.) I'm in my running clothes, lying face-down on the living-room floor, my face smashed into the carpet. Wailing. All. Day. Long. Yes, I'm serious. I had just returned from a very painful, approximately 23-second run, which had just sealed the deal: The marathon I'd been training for for months, my first marathon ever, the one that was just two weeks away, was not going to happen. At least not if my hip had anything to do with it...and, unfortunately, it does.

I spent a few hours on the floor. Then a few more standing like a cow, staring at nothing. Then some more wailing, a 9-1-1 call to my dad--who, thank god, did not say a word about the damn "clear" button. Luckily, I eventually got to it myself. I told myself all the very logical reasons why not running a marathon at the moment is a reasonable, smart decision that doesn't make what I've already accomplished any less valuable or rewarding, yadda, yadda, yadda. And then I moved on. Really. Just like that.

I've gotten a lot better at it over the past few years (unfortunately, from experience). Maybe it's just because I don't have the sheer time to deal with things that won't really matter a week or a month or a year from now. But for whatever reason, I can make a mistake at work, apologize profusely with a big smile and get on with making up for it. Or I can get chewed out for someone else's mistake and basically do the same thing. In school, I can bomb an assignment and focus on the next one. And, in life in general, I'm figuring out how to see mistakes for what they are, figure out how to make sure they don't happen again, then move the heck on.

Is it a survival skill? Maybe. For my sanity? Definitely. And, with my schedule, a time-saver more than anything? Absolutely. Moving forward is much more efficient than staying put or looking back. How's that for a line on the ol' resumé?

Photo: Mykl Roventine