Prompt: Write about a time when you didn’t take action but wish you had. What would you do differently?
Financial decisions come to mind. A relationship I held onto longer than I should have. Another I didn’t jump into when the moment opened. Business opportunities I let pass. All of it. Each choice—or lack of it—stands like a mile marker, asking to be remeasured.
But the thing is, once you pull the thread, the whole sweater starts to come apart.
Take my college decision, for example. At 18, I chose to attend the University of California instead of accepting an appointment to West Point. A prestigious opportunity, no doubt. But I turned it down. The reason? A girl I was dating. Ironically, we broke up the following year. So on the surface, it looks like a mistake.
But that one detour led me to meet the woman who would become my wife. And with her, I had the three best things in my life—my children. So the missed action—the “mistake”—gave me what I’d never trade. Not for anything in this world. Except maybe my salvation and faith in God, but those belong to another ledger entirely.
So I ask: if I’d gone to West Point, would I have still met my wife? Would my kids have been born—same souls, different faces, different mother? Or would I be someone else entirely, standing in a different life, writing a different answer about a different missed chance?
The possibilities spiral fast. You can get lost in them. Drown in what-ifs. And in doing so, you run the risk of missing the life you’re actually living. You forget to hold what’s in your hand because you’re staring into the brush, chasing birds that may or may not exist.
So in the end, would I take that action now, knowing what I know? No. Because I’ve made peace with this version of events. I’ve handled this life with a certain decency. And that’s worth something.
Maybe that’s the real answer—one bird in the hand really is better than two in the bush.
BB Grey--musings 
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