There are some decisions in life which could be called “crossroads”.
Do you believe that the course of a person’s life can be dictated by just a few key moments of truth, a handful of critical choices?
Can we recognize them?
Walking from the mechanic’s shop in the morning, I paused at the corner of 109th and 61st.
Do I take the #9 bus or do I walk a little farther to take the #73 to the train? Do I walk all the way to the train? Will it make as much as a half hour’s difference?
I took the #73, and the train. I didn’t meet a mysterious stranger. There was no horrific accident. I received no epiphany, no jarring realization brought forth by an overhead bus advertisement.
But… maybe the crucial fateful decision was that I didn’t encounter any of these. Is my life veering wildly off course, in a tragic spiral of chaos, in its own mundane and placid way?
How can I tell?
I’m writing this draft… the ‘Publish’ button is at the bottom of this page, inviting me to press it. Alluring. A delicious uncertainty. An ominous dance with the unkown.
Should I press it?
This is a sneaky version of the “what-if” game, and I’ve been told that the “what-if” game is a dangerous one to play….
Oh, I don’t know… Spilt milk does deserve to have proper respects paid.
I know it’s a dangerous game, but what if I don’t play it and I lose out on all that tantalizing possibilities that I could have imagined?