Do-Over

Before the holidays, I went to dinner with friends I hadn’t seen in quite a long time. We caught up on the usual, reminiscing about the past and discussing what was going on in our lives and the lives of our children.

At one point during the conversation, my friend said, “If I could do life over . . .” and I found that comment intriguing. Being the “stupidstitious” person I am, however, I never wanted to go too deep into that thought because I didn’t want to seem ungrateful for the life I have and possibly jinx it. I know, crazy.

But I did give it some thought after she said it. For one thing, it made me sad for her because I know she’s living a tough life at the moment. As we all know, things don’t always work out they way we hope they will and sometimes we’re left with only memories of the dreams and/or expectations we’ve had.

For myself, if I got a do-over, my career would have been different. I probably would have been a therapist since I really believe my purpose in this life is to help people feel better about themselves. I would have still wanted to be a writer, but being the practical person I am, I would not have attempted to make that my sole profession. I most definitely would have starved, lol.

But I really don’t regret too many of my choices because my life revolves around the love for my children and had I chosen differently, I wouldn’t being loving the same kids. I think I sound like a crazy person, but read that again. I would be loving whatever children I might have had, but they wouldn’t be the ones I do have.

I also feel my choices have helped make me the person I am today. I think I’m empathetic and compassionate and I owe that mainly to my life experiences. Even when I was a stupid-ass teenager doing all sorts of terrible things, I still made sure I was a good student with my eye on the prize at the end of the day, which was becoming a successful adult with a family at some point.

It’s sort of like “It’s a Wonderful Life.” If my choices had been different, so would have my results and not necessarily in a better way.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this do-over concept.