Decisions…

Every once in a while, we all look back and wonder how life would have been had we chosen differently. Talking to a friend earlier today, I was struck by much the same thought. A series of “what ifs” presented itself during my conversation, to which I don’t necessarily have answers.

What if, after finishing school with decent marks in the Sciences, I had chosen to pursue the same profession as millions of my compatriots? Would I have been among those comfortably settled in the US or elsewhere part of a several hundred thousand strong IT workforce? Or would I have, already fed up if being an IT wage slave have given up on a career and settled for domestic bliss?

What if, after graduation, I had actually taken the pains to write the civil services exams? Perhaps, I would today have had a comfortably cushy government job with all the associated perks.

What if I had not rejected the possibility of studying Social Work and ended up as a recruiter with some headhunter? Would I have found myself in a better, or perhaps worse, position than the one I’m in today.

What if I had chosen to stay in Paris rather than coming back? Would I have found an interesting job, love and life there?

What if I had chosen to marry young? What if I had been less stubborn, more focused or more flexible? What if…what if…

There are no answers to any of these questions. We will never know if life would have been better or worse had we made different decisions at various stages in life. Perhaps there indeed exist several parallel lifetimes like Richard Bach explores in One. Perhaps in another world, somewhere else, there is another me leading a different life.

And perhaps all this just too metaphysical for the human mind to comprehend. But, these questions will somehow keep coming back. Because,isn’t it always interesting to know how decisions affect our lives?