What If???

How many times have you questioned a decision, or lack of action, or wondered what might have happened if???  A conversation with an old friend has me contemplating this...  I made a decision once not to tell someone how I felt about them because I was afraid that the feelings would not be returned, and that after confessing my feelings we would never be able to go back to the friendship that meant so much to me.  So I stayed silent... better to have that person in my life than risk losing them completely.

Imagine my surprise when I found out many, many years later that the other person felt the same way about me...but also chose not to say anything.  It was slightly surreal to face each other, after so many years, and after so many other things have changed for both of us...and talk about the whole situation.  I almost felt like I was talking about something that involved people other than the two of us.

I have to say it was bittersweet to hear the truth... validation of those long-ago feelings combined with some sadness at knowing that things could have been different.  Some of the sadness perhaps also comes from knowing that the clock cannot be turned back to that long ago time...there is no chance of a "re-do".  Sometimes the risks we avoid taking become the chances that are forever lost.

But what if you could go back in time...  What if you actually had the opportunity to do something over again?  Would you really take that option?  What if it changed everything else in your life?  Could you accept the chance without the guarantee that the outcome would be what you wanted?  What if...

As I have often said...a little luck and some good timing, they mean everything.  While going back for a second chance sounds appealing, reality does not make that an option.  So, like many things...looking back changes nothing.  You have to own the choices that you have made, and accept that things happen for a reason.  Everything is clearer in hindsight...that is what makes it great for analysis.  The challenge is accepting a choice that in hindsight becomes the moment that might have changed everything...but never happened.