If I asked you to go home right now... where would you go? Most people would answer with an address. A place they know how to reach. But what if you knew the way... and there was no home waiting for you at the end of it? What if the first place that ever rejected you... was home? In the late nineteenth century, an eleven-year-old Russian boy left his home for the last time. He carried nothing with him, and he did not know where the road would take him. But he knew that the home he was leaving was no longer a place where he could stay. His name was Alexei Maximovich Peshkov. Years later, this boy would not only change his life—he would change his name as well. He chose to introduce himself to the world as Maxim Gorky, a name that means "the bitter one" in Russian. It was as if the child who had walked away from that home had never truly left it behind, but had carried it with him, even in the name he chose for himself. Gorky lived with his grandfather, a man known for his crue...
It's strange that humans invented the compass before they could measure time with much precision. It may seem like a small historical detail. But it raises an important question. Before we asked, "How late am I?" we had to ask, "Where am I going?" Maybe that's why I don't think time is the biggest problem we face in life. It's true, time can't be replaced. But we can fall behind, then catch up. We can stop for a while, then start again But direction is another matter. We spend years moving fast, working hard, really trying. Then we discover the problem was never our speed. It was the road we were on. We start to feel like life is nothing more than a way of getting through the days. And we forget that it's actually a journey to discover our compass. A Beginning We Didn't Choose We are born not knowing who we are. Not knowing what we love, what we don't love, what fits us and what doesn't. And from the very first day, many things ...