If I could turn back time, if I could find a way…(Cher)

If I knew then what I know now, I’d do some things differently. Who wouldn’t? They say hindsight is 20/20, so as I approach that year, I reflect upon what might have been.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a great life. I come from a loving, God-fearing family. I loved school from 2nd grade through graduate school. I had a successful and satisfying career. I have a great marriage, 26 years strong. I have a stepson, daughter-in-law, and two beautiful granddaughters. I’m happy.

But, being that I am an extremely introspective person, I sometimes ponder the past, and wonder what I could have done differently. Every decision one makes has consequences and determines one’s path. Here are some things I might change:

• I wouldn’t spend so much time in my dorm room and in the library. I’d get out and socialize more, even if I had to go to some activities alone.
• Likewise, I’d do the same when I lived alone for the first four years after undergraduate graduation.
• I wouldn’t take myself so seriously.
• I’d like to have recognized the signs my father displayed prior to his suicide. I don’t know that I could have prevented it, but the signs were there, I just missed them.
• I would have dated more. I always shunned the guys who liked me and crushed on guys who didn’t care about me. I always wanted who I didn’t have.
• I would have majored in business.
• I’d have had a baby.

Well those are some of things I’d change. But God had a plan for me. If I’d done those things differently, I wouldn’t have the life I have now. My path would have been altered if I’d made other decisions.

As Garth Brooks sang, “And now I’m glad I didn’t know the way it all would end, the way it all would go. Our lives are better left to chance. I would have missed the pain, but I’d of have to miss the dance.”

I am a blessed person. I have crossed paths with some of the most amazing people one can imagine. I’ve developed some incredible relationships.

I’ve been to some cool places and done some interesting things. I’ve been hurt, but always recovered, stronger than I was before.

Unlike Garth’s song, I believe life is not better left to chance, but better left to God. I’m glad God is in control and has a plan for my life.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can. And the wisdom to know the difference. (Reinhold Niebuhr)

What might you do differently if you could turn back time?

dmzh