What if

From “Letters to Juliet”, “‘What” and ‘if’ two words as nonthreatening as words come. But put them together side-by-side and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life: ‘What if”?...”

A few weeks ago, I wrote an entry called “I am”.  It was thought provoking for me. From the responses I received from others, it made them think too.

How differently my life could have turned out based on if I had taken any of the “what if’s” paths.

Some ‘what if’s’ are about questionable choices:

What if I had gone away to college vs living at home and working while in school?

What if I had followed through on one of the other careers I had originally thought about teaching, physical therapist or journalist?

What if I had followed  through on one of my original choices in majors (Science, Education and Journalism) vs getting a degree for which I had the most credits (Behavioral Science)?

What if I had not put pressure on myself to be like everyone else and get married?

What if I hadn’t stayed in a marriage longer than I should have?

What if I didn’t spend years struggling and making poor financial decisions?

Some ‘what if’s’ are about the things that turned out right:

What if I hadn’t taken my friends advice that life exists outside New York?

What if I hadn’t taken that first bank teller job that has lead to a career in mortgage banking?

What if I hadn’t decided to not wait to have a house before starting a family?

What if I didn’t bite the bullet and follow friends sage advise to get my financial house back in order?

What if  I didn’t ask my friend what “Dataw Island” was like?

What if I hadn’t found my strength at work was in management?

What if I hadn’t made a friend in high school that would ultimately change my life?

Ending up living in a lovely location in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, having built up strong friendships, ending up in a career and role for which I was well suited and having a daughter who has grown into a wonderful woman and a best friend means the ‘what if’s’ turned out as they should.

When I look back, I tend to view the past with rose colored glasses. I prefer to want to remember the good.

Looking into the future there are less ‘what if’s”

Yes, I wish I had met my soul mate, someone to grow old with but that wasn’t in the cards.

But I do wake up each day to a beautiful view in a better living space than I ever could have dreamt of owning. I am blessed with amazing friends.  I have a job where I now work from home which makes a very big difference. I now make more prudent financial decisions based on needs vs. wants (ok and maybe an occasional whim buy). 

So maybe the real question is “what if I had done some of the things I didn’t get to do or choose to do?”

The paths and choices that caused me to end right where I am, it all makes sense to me now.

I am where I was meant to be.

See you next week,