I’ve been thinking about forks.
Not the utensil I use to eat with.
More like the forks I find in a road, or on a path, or in my heart, or even on the Internet. You know. Those times I have to choose between one thing or another.
Those kinds of forks.
And I always doubt my decisions. Did I make the right choice or did I just doom myself to missing out on an awesome opportunity?
Which way should I go?
What do I do if I get down the road and I realize I’ve made a wrong choice? Can I go back without any consequences and choose differently?
Sometimes, yes. Other times, no.
What About the 'What Ifs'?
And I wonder … What if I had continued to try to get into vet school? What if I had taken that communications job at the Ohio Department of Agriculture? What if my husband and I decided children were a responsibility we weren’t ready to take on? What if my husband and I did split up when I suggested divorce on our fifth anniversary?
So many “what ifs.”
But as I sit here, and read that “What if” paragraph again, I realize that question keeps me focused on the past. Those “What ifs” keep me looking backward.
My husband (whom I’m proud to say has been so for more than 37 years. Thank goodness he didn’t listen to me all those years ago.) told me once there is a reason the rear view mirror in my car is so much smaller than the windshield. I need to keep myself focused on where I’m going — not so much on where I’ve been. Sometimes it’s good to glance back to see what’s behind me. But if I don’t look ahead, I’ll miss a bunch of opportunities — and maybe even a turn in the road, which could be disastrous!
And if I had made different decisions, turned a different way, I would not be the same person I am today. I would still be the self-centered, ladder-climbing bitch that many in my last office job described me as.
No Mistakes. Only Lessons.
I believe that God leads me on my path. If a choice I made didn’t go as I hoped, I figure God had something God wanted me to know and learn along the way. And maybe I wouldn’t have understood something that happened in my future, if I hadn’t gone through what I thought was a mistake during my “wrong turn.”
Those “wrong turns” can sometimes turn out to be important experiences that I would have missed if I’d gone another way.
Many of the podcasters I listen to and authors whose books I read don’t refer to failures as something to be avoided. Instead, those mistakes are learning opportunities – lessons. So I did such and such and the result wasn’t the greatest. What did I learn? How will I use that experience as I move forward?
Life can’t always be rainbows and unicorns. But it also doesn’t always need to be dungeons and dung piles either.
Maybe it’s perspective I’m thinking of here more than anything else. If I perceive I’ve made a mistake, I have. If I perceive I’ve experienced a learning opportunity, I have. It all depends on how I look at it.
What about you? Have you been able to look back on your life and see where a few “wrong turns” turned out to be valuable? Has there been something you’ve experienced that turned out to be beneficial?
Whichever way you’ve chosen to go, I pray you can see how that road has helped you along your journey. Instead of looking at “forks” as potentials to miss out on something, look at them as an opportunity for adventure.
Until next week,
Susie from Stix-N-Stonez
4 thoughts on “When Life Hands You A Fork, What Do You Choose To Do With It?”
Lovely read, Susie – I’ll remember that about the rear-view mirror being smaller than the windshield. But I can’t believe your former colleagues would have described you as that. Certainly not the warm, intelligent, kind and caring human being I know as Susie. X
I have changed quite a bit from my office-working days! Thank you Eilidh!
I love this, !!
Thanks Carl!
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