What If…If Only

Life is full of choices. A myriad of opportunities containing the phrase “what if”, and recriminations that begin “If only…”. What if we went this way instead of that? If only we had made a better choice, after we chose the path before us.

I woke early this morning thinking through some of these scenarios. Of course, my focus was dealing with cold weather living choices (smile), but then I started applying it to a bevy of opportunities through my life. What if.. If only… Good, bad, ugly, and possibilities. Maybe, yes. Maybe, no. Only time will tell.

Of course, we are often grounded in our mind what our opportunities should be based on our view of life, but you still wonder through the “if only’s…”

It’s like standing at a trailhead… Picture it. Left? Right? Hard? Easy? Up? Down? What do I want to see or experience along the way? Each possibility as options not available the other way.

It all depends on you, and the sliver of moment that you consider which way seems best.

Here’s My Thought

We all live with the recriminations of opportunities missed. Though, if you think strong enough about it, the make-up of the misses in the past may find a way of showing up again in the future. Feeling bad about the “misses” truly keeps my focus on future “possibilities”.

Yet, there is no guarantee of the future having the same successes as the past opportunities missed. Yep. We hear that all the time as the disclaimer when investment companies tout their products.

Regardless of how you think through anything, there is always a warning!

“Caveat emptor” is Latin for “Let the buyer beware”

Another phrase that rings through is “Buyer’s Remorse.” You get hoodwinked into something that is too good to be true, and it is. You feel guilty. You kick yourself down the street of “what if…if only”…

Spiritual Thought

Did Demas ever wish he had not left Paul’s side to attend to the calling of “this present life”? (2 Timothy 4:10). How about Agrippa? Did he ever make the turn to Christianity as he told Paul he was almost persuaded? (Acts 26:28)

Sometimes we can make up for the losses of our choices. Sometimes it will never happen.

There are many times I’ve stood at a crossroad of choices and opportunities and wavered before this way, or that way. But there are more times than not that I stood on the side of right and good, and rejected the wrong and bad. Not matter how lucrative.