In today’s post to his blog, Jack’s Winning Words, Pastor Freed used this quote – “There’s another life that I might have had, but I am having this one.” (Kazuo Ishiguro)
I suppose that all of us, from time to time, muse about what might have been…how our lives would have been different had we made a different decision at some critical juncture. While musing about past decisions might be harmless, if we go beyond that and dwell upon those events or decisions that shaped our lives into what they have become, we might become fixated upon what might have been and sink into depression.
It is much better to move on as Ishiguro indicates in his quote and focus upon the life that you did end up having and which still lies ahead of you. Life does not give us “do overs” it only provides the opportunity to “do next”.
Life does give us the chance to change the course that we are currently on and get back on a track that we deviated from through some decision that we now regret. The detour that we took may have set us back a bit, but it does not have to prevent us from doing the right thing or accomplishing our original goals.
Maybe say a little prayer asking God to help you to not look back; but, instead to focus on what is ahead. That will help turn around your thinking and stop thinking about what might have been. Instead, you can think about what might still be. Planning for your success is a much better use of your time than regretting your failures.
So, don’t dwell in the past and on the past; instead, live for and in the future. The future is a much more pleasant place in which to spend your time; for as Anne of Green Gables author L.M. Montgomery said – “Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”
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