What if...

I'm sitting here taking a mental trip down memory lane. Wondering if I'd done this instead of that or that instead of this just where my life might be right now. We don't realize it at the time but the smallest choice, the simplest decision, can have a lasting and profound impact on our lives.

What if I'd made just a little more of an effort in school? Had I done that I may have gone onto a four year college immediately after high school instead of community college two years later. Two years of working full time. Not that I don't have fond memories of that job and that time period.

And then what if, instead, during THAT time frame, when I was working at good ol' Clover in Center Square, I'd made some choice differently. I can think of one in particular that haunts me. And I often wonder where I'd be today if I'd chosen differently.

I've always said that regret is a useless emotion. A pound of it won't make an ounce of difference. With that said there ARE a few things in my life that I regret. A few things that, given the opportunity, I might just go back and do differently. But then I think... if I did. It would change the present. My marriage issues aside I have six beautiful children as a result of this marriage. For that I will always be grateful and will always, in some way, love their father. No matter how this journey we're on ends up.

So that brings me back to regret being a useless emotion. It doesn't stop me, however, from wondering every so often. What if...