Due north.

 "I know my moral compass doesn't exactly point due north, but if I say something's wrong, something's wrong." In the movie, 27 Dresses, actress Judy Greer recites this line to Katherine Heigl's character. Katherine, who is a people-pleaser and usually so nice, has just finished a very unkind, publicly humiliating rant towards her sister, played by Malin Ackerman. Rather than lecturing and being judgmental towards her best friend, Judy replies with the moral compass comment. That scene, and in particular, that line, has always stuck with me. 

The idea of always pointing exactly due north all the time is sometimes challenging. How far off of north do I sway? Usually, only a tad. A bit. Slightly. Perhaps, 1:00 rather than 12-noon. Kind of like the pictures below, where every line is angled just slightly askew.

 

I've never sailed. Watching the sailboats this weekend was fun; there were so many of them. They start from the north and as a group of about 15 or 20 boats, they all sail to the south, circling around buoys in several figure-eight formations, and then head back to the starting point.The amount of effort to "right" the boat from tipping over into the water when it's listing so far to one side seems incredibly difficult. It takes more than one person leaning as far back as possible to keep that delicate balance between staying afloat and submerging.

In times when I have revealed the less-than flattering side of me, I cherish the friends who care enough about me to say the words that set me straight and keep me afloat, and not stand by as I completely submerge.