I was driving behind a car the other day covered in bumper stickers declaring our world to be a Matrix-like fiction. And indeed, depending on the news of the day, this is sometimes an appealing proposition.

To me a more fruitful exercise is to look around and ask “what if?” Usually I ask this in a hopeful, future-looking way, but lately I’ve had the chance to consider it retrospectively as well.

What if my first boss had flipped past my flimsy undergrad resume in the recruiting book, instead of giving me a chance?

What if that CEO did not go out of his way to teach me all about his business, when my only qualification was being sincerely curious?

What if I’d stayed and not left? What if I’d left and not stayed?

What if my friends and family had not kept faith in our connections, through all those years of business trips and conference calls and half-holidays and missed get-togethers?

For each of us, the what-if’s are endless, interesting to consider but impossible to assess.

How lucky to recognize that the path actually taken has been full of tremendous blessings, things that effort could never earn.

Dear ones, let us awaken to the wonder of our lives.

For Celebration
John O’Donohue

Now is the time to free the heart,
Let all intentions and worries stop,
Free the joy inside the self,
Awaken to the wonder of your life.

Open your eyes and see the friends,
Whose hearts recognize your face as kin,
Those whose kindness watchful and near,
Encouraging you to live everything here.

See the gifts the years have given,
Things your effort could never earn,
The health to enjoy who you want to be
And the mind to mirror mystery.