Great thing about standards are there are so many of them... The whole push/pull increase/decrease idea is just a mess. Forward used to be, and still is in most other transportation areas (airplanes, trains, and some car manufacturers including the gas pedal) used to represent more throttle. Having it easier to change gears or increase speed by pulling towards is actually a backwards idea. IMO you just have to get used to each cars quirks and if that's too hard then maybe having multiple cars isn't your thing?
At least there's a standard for rotational direction and the direction your wheels turn.