A few years ago I wrote this post about the futility of “what if” moments.

But every now and then I wonder “what if things could be different?”  What if we could change not just our stories but the stories of the world around us, those in built societal beliefs? What would that look like? What would they be?

(source)

Well here are a few of mine.

What if:-

* we all just quit it with the endless overachieving and allowed ourselves to just be?

* yoga wasn’t always about standing on your head/hands in fancy pants?

* we worried less about what we ate or when we ate it?

* we accepted that it’s OK to be unhappy sometimes?

* we were kinder, to ourselves, to others, to all living beings?

* guilt didn’t exist?

* men and women really were equal?

* we paid more attention to our physical body?

* we paid less attention to our physical body?

* our only inspiration was simply our wonderful self?

* we stopped trying to be someone we’re not?

* we embraced our inner lazy?

* we worked a 4-day week (and discovered nothing changed)?

* we all bought local and seasonal and the big supermarkets didn’t exist?

* we genuinely believed there was enough?

* it’s all just Maya?

We have all done it at some time or other – asked ourselves “What If?”

What if I had behaved differently in a certain situation? What if I had worked harder at school? What if I had taken this job over that job?

There are times in life when we come to a crossroads and we have to make a decision as to which fork in the road we would like to travel down. Often this is not an easy decision and sometimes I think it would be easier if life were more like a Dungeons & Dragons book and I just rolled the dice to find out the outcome!

I have made decisions that in hindsight may have not been the right ones. I’ve never been sure I went to the right university. I have made decisions about people and relationships that have ended up hurting me. What if I hadn’t made those decisions?

But I know that if I hadn’t made these decisions I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I know that even the bad decisions have been huge steps of learning for me.

I have always had a bit of a habit of living in the past, of dwelling on my mistakes (or rather, what I perceive to be my mistakes). I have to remind myself to breathe and to be here with that breath, right here in the present moment. In the present moment the past plays no part and the “what ifs” become merely stepping stones on the journey to the right now.

Do you have “what if?” moments? How do you put them back into perspective?