Expressions!!

Note: Not for the handful few who are completely satisfied and happy with their whereabouts in life.

Reminiscence is a wonderful thing. There is nothing like being cuddled up in a blanket late at night trying to sleep and reminiscing about the proverbial "golden days". The stories, the characters, the milestones all of them leading to those hushed smiles and the fuzzy feeling and also probably to a possible case of sleep deprivation (or in my case: incomplete syllabus for an exam). We all do analyze our stories so far, trying to find out what we did good what were we good at who we liked or who liked us. Some do it more often than not while others may postpone it for the post-retirement stages of their life.

Often as an outcome of those discussions emerges a single thread: a defining moment of life so far and more often than not it is not a good thing. Personally I term it the "wrecking" turn. We all almost have it that single moment in our history which, apparently, could have dramatically altered our whole story. That one time when you succumbed to the temptation, when you rationalized for irrational choices or plainly when you made a boo-boo. There is no shame in admitting that. We are only human “screwing up” is the only single attribute common among all of us, again probably.

What usually follows identification of that “wrecking turn” is the possible set of different outcomes you could have had, if only, a different path altogether, a different co-ordinate to be at, a different set of people around you. And this is when you get stuck. Even if we want to change something which may have lead us here, what we don’t want is to change who we met along the way, life would not be the same if we had to exclude them. Possibly that altered path would have company of great people too but it is too great a risk to take, too much chance involved. 

There is a large set of people who follow the “whatever happens happens for good” mindset. They can object all they want but life is full of these wrecking turns, every nook and corner seems to have one be it college, professional life and/or personal life. Maybe when we will look back on these some 10 years or so from now we would realize the cosmic intelligence leading to it, but for now it just stinks a lot.

I really want to expand on the thought, but it would be an ultimate irony if writing on “wrecking turns” itself becomes another “wrecking turn”, so until next time.