There's a lyric I can't shake: "In a big city, in pole position, when you reverse."
Eleven words, three contradictions. The big city is where everyone is racing. Pole position means you already won the race to start the race — front of the grid, best seat, nothing ahead of you. And then the action isn't go. It's reverse.
We're sold a single direction. Get to the front. Once you're there, floor it. But anyone who's actually arrived somewhere knows the quieter truth: the top of the grid is also where you notice you're not sure you want the track. Sometimes the most honest move from the front is backward — out of the race, out of the city's logic, into a direction nobody's cheering for.
Reversing from pole position isn't failure. It's the rarest kind of nerve: being first and still choosing your own line.
Next time you're "winning," check which gear you're actually in.