Unlike most people i know, i am fan of what ifs. I have always thought of life's what could've beens-- of my what could've beens. People hate what ifs because thinking such entails regret. What they do not see is the beauty of those what ifs. If you could relive one moment and have made a different choice, what result would've it yielded? what difference would've it made? Thinking about it is an avenue for reconstruction more than it is an avenue for regret. In addition, I believe it's the most practical way of repenting and at the same time rehabilitating. It's a way of repenting because it's alreday painful knowing what you have lost making a wrong move. A way of rehabilitating because after that incident, you know better- you become enlightened, well at least you should. But enough about its pejorative connotations. What about thinking of the 'what if' after a triumphant story or event in your life? How about making the right life changing decision and thinking of what could've happened otherwise? When stationed in that position, you may find it useless to even think of the other possiblity should you happen to make the wrong move. What the hell for?-- To boost my ego all the more?
to waste my time? to discover what mischief i missed? Well, perhaps.
But perhaps not.
That's what beauty is. That's where its beauty lie. When you actually think about the what if, you travel in tme without having to literally move or leave. You become happy, dispirited or satisfied depending on the situation. You allow yourself to be swallowed in that little, magical experience-- that in the end, when you ask yourself "what for?"-- you are left with either a smile or frown on your face.
What people do not realize is, dwelling shortly on these what ifs ideas is not wrong at all. Rather, it's the frst step to acceptance, to living anew-- to living fully. You come to understand the consequence of your action in a beautiful way. You become a hero in your own tragedy, you accept. Sadly, yet usually, this is where it goes wrong-- when people just accept and whine. Unfortunately, what ifs can only bring us so far, and can only do us this much. The rest is still up to us. And by the rest, i mean the action you take. After all, contemplating, brainstorming, planning, and what beautiful abstract things there are are all worthless if not acted upon, if not brought into completion, if not realized in a person. Beauty to be appreciated must materialize.
