What if?

“Your mistake does not define who you are...you are your possibilities”
— Oprah Winfrey

"What if" stories are pure speculation because something else has
already occurred. It's just guessing. But there are times in one's life
that we when reach certain crossroad events, that due to a decision
taken, or not taken, a chance encounter, whatever, we go one way
instead of another.

These many paths taken and decisions made are the ones that create who
we are today. They form our knowledge, abilities, skills, and emotions.
And from time to time, we may allow ourselves to wonder about how
things might have worked out differently if we'd made different
decisions along the path. That glimmer of "second chances" to do it
again another way.

In the present moment, however, lamenting about the "what might have
been" will not help us with who we actually are right now and the
decisions we must make today for all the possibilities that are before
us. But thinking back with a thought of gratitude for all the diverse
experiences we have encountered along the way, all the people who may
have helped us, and for the strength that we continue to have to keep
going on in our wonderful journey of life, is a good sign that we know
a little of what life is all about.