" What if "

I'm sure we all do it. Some are doing it right now. Others will be doing it.

Thinking and wondering about decisions. Decisions we have made and ones we are about to make. We all want to do the right thing, to make the correct choices. Choices that affect our happiness,livelihood and indeed our lives in general.

As we age we tend to procrastinate on these decisions. The recklessness of our youth being behind us. A favorite cliche of mine,fools rush in where wise men fear to tread,comes to mind. Then again,this same fearlessness can lead to great glory !

There are those that never change their ways. Some people jump from one thing to another their entire lives. Others find a niche and stay there. There is something to be said for both actions.

But what I was thinking about this morning is revisiting those key decision that really changed your life. Whenever I start feeling a little down in the dumps this usually occurs. The "what ifs " creep into my mind. Thinking about the trail not taken. In my mind this trail almost always proves to be better. But,isn't that the point of the visit ? Why would you think if I did something differently it would be worse ? That wouldn't make any sense. Soon though my little depressive spell will pass and I go back to being content with the decisions I have made. After all,you can't change the past,only learn from it.

It is a fun flight of fantasy though. My favorite one involves a business opportunity I once had. I was working for an upholstery business when the owner passed away. His widow wanted no part of this business and offered it for sale. This was in 1975 and the staggering price was 18,000 dollars, lock stock and barrel. I considered it carefully and declined to act upon this. A big chance was knocking at the door but I failed to answer. This business is still in existence and thriving to this day. In fact it is in one of the more "posh" areas of the country. A long list of celebrities use this shop.

What if I had bought this business ? Would I be a wealthy businessman highly respected in the community ? Hob nobing with the "A" listers ? How different my life could have been. Fun to think about and speculate on.

Then reality sets in and I am honest with myself. I was 23 years old at the time. Too young and too immature to operate a business effectively. It probably would have been a disaster. At least financially. I wasn't what you would call " serious or necessarily responsible " back in the day.

There are other little flights of " what if " I occasionally embark upon. I'm betting everyone does. It would be fun if we could rewind our life and play it out again from different points. I would want to reserve the right to revert back to the original however.

Now," what if " I was a famous author ? Hmmm.