While Dee and I were waiting to be served in a restaurant, I picked up an Etch-a-Sketch-like toy on a rack near our table, a plaything designed to keep little kids entertained while waiting for food. Curious, I began to write on the screen and tinker with the dials. I discovered a large knob that turned like a dial and moved in a slot horizontally back and forth across the bottom of the device. “What does that dial do?” Dee asked.

On Facebook I glanced at the trending news including the horrid account of how a man was dragged bleeding off a United Airlines aircraft when he refused to voluntarily give up his seat to a crew member en route to another flight. You know the gory details. Tens of millions of people have posted and tweeted about it, nearly all aghast that the airline would resort to violent assault on a paying passenger.

Every February, in honor of Valentine’s day, I explore loving relationships. Many of us have faced challenges in relationships, and we struggle with how to create truly rewarding connections. We search for our soulmate, wrestle with friendships, and dread going home to see our relatives. At some point it dawns on us that “this cannot be the way I was born to live.” Then we get serious about creating relationships that work. If we are sincere, that will happen.

One of the ways I like to make the end of a year work on my behalf is to assess how the past year has redirected me. It’s tempting to look back on the year and regret errors I made or things that seemed to not work out. But failure and regret exist only at the shallowest level of appearances. What seems to be a dead end sign is an arrow pointing you in another direction. The universe is saying, “This is not it. There is a better direction for you. Go that way and you will find what you are looking for.” No movement in life is wasted. It all has a purpose. You just have to know how to read the signs.

A young entrepreneur came to me complaining that she was having trouble completing the text for her website. “Where is the roadblock you are hitting?” I asked Barbara.

“It’s the About Me page,” she answered with a contorted face that told me how painful this process was for her. This is the page that most entrepreneurs get hung up on, the very one I have had countless coaching sessions to help clients get posted.

“Do you have any doubts about presenting yourself to the world?” “Well, yes. . .” she answered sheepishly. “I question if I am really qualified and if I am worth people paying me for my services.”