When we were in high school, all we could think about was the day we would walk across the stage at graduation and get that diploma we worked so hard for 13 years to achieve. We were anxious to start the next chapter in our lives -- move out of the house and into our first residence hall and learn to fend for ourselves. We dreamt of the days that lay ahead and of our future careers and lives. We couldn’t wait to see all the possibilities.
Yet, what’s funny is that as much as we look forward and ahead; when we’re finally at college, when we finally have those dream jobs, we look back. We look back a lot; at the ridiculous drama, the friends, the teachers, the stupid mistakes that we learned from. When I’m with my friends at home, we reminisce of yesteryears (like it was a super long time ago instead of just three or four years). We discuss what could have been, or what would have been if scenarios had played out differently. We entertain ourselves for hours by just bringing up fond memories and saying, “What if?”
“What if I actually stood up to _________ when she made fun of me?”
“What would’ve happened if I told _________ my feelings for him?”
“Where would I be if I hadn’t joined ________?”
The list of possible questions and answers to follow are endless. Your younger self, if given the opportunity, would probably take back whatever they did (or didn’t do) and try again, just to change the outcome of what may happen in the future.
But despite how fun and intriguing these conversations may be, we can’t change the past -- regardless of how badly we may want to.
And that’s OK.
Most of the decisions we make are the best option at that specific time. We live in the present -- we aren’t necessarily thinking about the negative consequences that may or may not happen in the future. Every decision we make, whether or not it makes sense at the time or not, is a part of our unique path through this crazy thing we call life.
If you were to ask 15-year-old me where I’d see myself in five years, I’d probably say something involving the college I wanted to go to at that point in time (University of Michigan), how I’d still be single because I don’t have the time for that, and talking about the local veterinary hospital I would be interning at.
Man, oh man, those statements couldn’t have been further from the truth. I’m at my dream school, I'm dating my best friend, and I’m interning at my church while putting aside some days at local animal hospitals- still working on my dream of being a veterinarian.
It’s funny -- life rarely seems to work out the way you expect it to, but the way that it does end up turning out, you can’t imagine anything differently and you wouldn’t change it for the world.
Our decisions make us who we are and point us down the paths we travel throughout our “journeys of life.” So every once in a while, it’s OK to wonder, “what if?” and hypothesize of alternative routes. But it’s more important to be happy with where you are now and appreciate all the steps it took to get to where you are.
