If I Had To Do It All Over Again
It's a concept we've each entertained at least once or twice in our life; with each alternate scenario, we are led down a different pathway that eventually leads to gray.
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Take a moment to identify what you would consider your greatest mistake in your life so far. Got it in mind?
Now imagine making a different choice so that the event or action no longer is your greatest mistake. Where do you think this new pathway in your alternate life will lead you?
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Now take a moment to identify what you would consider your greatest opportunity in your life so far. Got it in mind?
Now imagine an alternate choice so that the event or action is no longer such a great opportunity. Where does this new pathway in your alternate life lead you?
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Most likely the answer remains the same: the alternate pathway can only be drawn out so far in one's imagination and then, the gray appears. It's that realm beyond our own consciousness; that future that has yet to be lived or determined. This is one of the ultimate and simultaneous blessings and frustrations of Life itself. Life - the grand birthday gift that we wish we knew what was inside but at the same time, don't want the surprise ruined for us. Such is the dilemma.
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But, my friend, regardless of your where you perceive yourself in your life - good or bad, your choices and non-choices have led you to this point. It's not a fatal point in your life, but a point that must be lived in the present. There's nowhere else to go - the past won't let us reside there and the future won't let us in just yet.
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My father-in-law would say, as so many seasoned sages would as well, "Spit in one hand and wish in the other and see which one fills up first." There's some simple truth in this silly statement: Wishes won't come true in the past or present - they only come true by the choices we make in the present.
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Perhaps the end of the statement "If I had to do it all over again..." for each of us might simply be, live a little more conscientiously in the present. Don't wish too hard to do it all over again, my friend, as you may not like the outcome. But try to do it better right now. You might be pleasantly surprised at the future that awaits you.