Complex Numbers

Decisions, Decisions...

PROMPT November 14th

Think back to a moment in your life when you were faced with making a difficult choice. (Which city to move to, which college to attend, what to ask Santa for, etc) How might your life be different if you had made a different choice than the one you did?

Once, long ago, I was dating two women at the same time. Yeah, I know; I was young, shut up. Edith was a petite strawberry blonde who always laughed at my jokes (my primary consideration in a girlfriend) and loved the same kinds of movies I did. Kate, by contrast, was tall, brunette, and enjoyed games (the board and roleplaying kind, not the mind kind). Put them together and you have the perfect woman, but putting them together was the one thing I spent most of my time and energy to prevent.

One day I was humblebragging about this to a friend, who said, "Dude, you have to choose."

"What? Why? I really dig both of them." (We said "dig" at the time.)

"It's just not fair to either of them. Besides, one day they will find out about each other, and then you're well and truly fucked."

I sighed. "Shit. You're right."

"Besides," he went on. "Everyone knows you can't have your Kate and Edith too."

...

Okay, I just made all of that up. Well, most of it. Never let the facts get in the way of a good joke, I always say. Or a bad one. Especially a bad one. Even more especially when you can use the joke to illustrate a point, which is:

Regrets are a bad idea.

Putting aside for the moment the array of scientific evidence to support the idea that one could not have made a different choice given the exact same circumstances, I can't think of even one decision that I made that, had it gone otherwise, would have put me in a better place than I am now. That's because I'm pretty much where I want to be. Oh, life isn't perfect - anyone who tells you their life is perfect is lying worse than I did up there - but I've got a pretty good situation going, even if it's with 0 women instead of 2.

That's probably for the best.

But the question is about how life would be different, not potentially better. Still, my point stands. Besides, if I could have made different choices, I wouldn't be me, and I usually like being me. Or, at least, I prefer it to the alternative.

On the other talon, if I could have made those different choices, the person I would have become would probably prefer that to being me. Unless, of course, he knew what a sweet setup I've got.

Additionally, I can't really think of too many major decisions I've made; life seems to make them for me. At one point, I almost joined the military, but that choice was taken out of my hands on medical grounds. Again - for the best.

So there's a non-answer for everyone, but at least it's some insight into my thought process. Besides, you got to read a funny joke. Right? ... Right??