Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.
Even with Robert Frost telling us the mundane details, we all know how that poem goes since most of us, as much as we might want to, can't travel in both directions at once. In fact most times there are even more choices available to us which makes the decisions ever more crucial.
After going through the various pros and cons of whatever outcomes possible to make the final decision, I rarely think back on the whys and wherefores after. Short of having a magical time machine readily available, there is very little we can do to reverse a momentous decision already made.
There are times when we stumble onto the more challenging path in life - possibly what everyone else would erroneously label as the wrong turn. Just because the road travelled gets more strenuous at certain junctions doesn't make it wrong.
Still as fallible human beings, we do occasionally indulge in wondering about the What Ifs. What if I'd gone down the other road in the yellow wood? What if I'd found a more beautiful pasture with a Spanish hacienda filled with bountiful treasure and staffed by dark-haired, brown-eyed Adonises? What if? What if.
Isn't it a wonder why we always envisage reasonably optimistic outcomes rather than conceive horrific endings instead? Yes, what if something better had come along - but what if you'd walked down that road only to fall into a dark pit full of snakes and spiders? Ever thought of that?
Maybe it's a pitfall of the job but I've always seen far worse outcomes than whatever I'm facing currently. Really, I could be battling far worse than an irritating pen-pushing bureaucracy.
If only I could turn back time indeed!
Though I might put them onto pen and paper, I've tried not to fixate on alternate realities that could be; preferring instead to direct my attentions to what I could do now. Very little we can do about regret. Instead of focusing on the What Ifs, perhaps change it into thinking about the future. Work towards what you want instead - think about What Can You Do.
Even with Robert Frost telling us the mundane details, we all know how that poem goes since most of us, as much as we might want to, can't travel in both directions at once. In fact most times there are even more choices available to us which makes the decisions ever more crucial.
After going through the various pros and cons of whatever outcomes possible to make the final decision, I rarely think back on the whys and wherefores after. Short of having a magical time machine readily available, there is very little we can do to reverse a momentous decision already made.
There are times when we stumble onto the more challenging path in life - possibly what everyone else would erroneously label as the wrong turn. Just because the road travelled gets more strenuous at certain junctions doesn't make it wrong.
Still as fallible human beings, we do occasionally indulge in wondering about the What Ifs. What if I'd gone down the other road in the yellow wood? What if I'd found a more beautiful pasture with a Spanish hacienda filled with bountiful treasure and staffed by dark-haired, brown-eyed Adonises? What if? What if.
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| Oh yeah a bit of Pietro Boselli would definitely make that decision so much easier. |
Isn't it a wonder why we always envisage reasonably optimistic outcomes rather than conceive horrific endings instead? Yes, what if something better had come along - but what if you'd walked down that road only to fall into a dark pit full of snakes and spiders? Ever thought of that?
Maybe it's a pitfall of the job but I've always seen far worse outcomes than whatever I'm facing currently. Really, I could be battling far worse than an irritating pen-pushing bureaucracy.
If only I could turn back time indeed!
Though I might put them onto pen and paper, I've tried not to fixate on alternate realities that could be; preferring instead to direct my attentions to what I could do now. Very little we can do about regret. Instead of focusing on the What Ifs, perhaps change it into thinking about the future. Work towards what you want instead - think about What Can You Do.
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