Taking a Different Path
Nov 8th, 2007 by Larry
“We are made wise not by the recollection of our past,
but by the responsibility for our future.”
~ George Bernard Shaw
Do you ever wonder how your life would have been much different if you had taken a different path? We all have forks on our journey down life’s path. Taking one path as opposed to another, our lives would have been completely different. Everyone that we touched on our journey would have also been affected.
It’s a Wonderful Life
Have you ever watched the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the fictional story of George Bailey of Bedford Falls? There are many twists and turns as George travels through his life, he saves his brother from drowning, he prevents the local pharmacist from accidentally killing a child, he saves the Building and Loan from being taken over by an opportunistic bank owner, and he has touched many lives in one way or another. George perceives his life as a complete failure because from helping all of these people in his town he never gets to do what he wants to do. He gets to a very low point in his life and wishes he were never born.
George is on the edge of town one night thinking of suicide after the terrible day he had and witnesses someone jumping off the bridge into the river. George doesn’t hesitate and jumps in after the guy and saves him. Clarence the guy that George saves reveals himself as George’s guardian angel and wants to help him. Clarence shows George what life would be like for the town and its people if George had never been born, and life is dramatically different. George soon realizes that his life does mean something and he has touched many people.
Our Stories
We all have similar stories, for our lives have touched many people. My story would have been much different had I chosen different paths.
If I had not joined the Air Force and stayed in my hometown, what would my life be like now? I would probably still be an auto mechanic and not a computer programmer, I would not have seen the places I’ve seen like Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy and almost every state in this country, or have known the people I knew in all of these places and how they completely affected me and my life.
When leaving my last assignment to come to Montgomery Alabama I had two choices, Gunter AFB in Alabama or Patrick AFB in Florida and I chose Alabama. Life would have been so much different had I chosen Florida. My job would have been different, the schools where my kids when would have been different, my wife would have worked in different places, everyone I know now would be different.
What if I didn’t leave the Air Force after 14 years, stayed in, and moved several more times. What job would I have? Where would I be living now?
Our Path
Our lives are intertwined and the decisions we make affect everyone we touch. The question is would our lives be that much different if we had chosen different paths? Would things have turned out the same for all of us even though different paths were taking? Are the paths we chose the paths that we were meant to follow the whole time? I guess we will never know the answers to these questions. Life doesn’t come with an owner’s manual and would we have read it if it had?
