Do you ever wonder what your life would have been like if you had made different decisions? Said ‘yes’ instead of ‘no’? Sometimes I do. To be clear, I don’t look back at the past sorrowfully, regretting what I have decided to do with my life so far. Sometimes I just wonder how different my life would be if I never experienced the things that I have.
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Graduating from a high school in the US, the most obvious next step was to go to a university in my state or even in the country for that matter. I could see the perks and possibilities ahead of me; I could be with my friends, stay close to my family and practically continue life as usual. Instead, made the decision to go to university in Tokyo, Japan, a place that I had only visited a few times in the past. Since Jr. high school, it had been a dream of mine to study in Japan so I took the risk and turned away from the path that would have likely been the easiest for me and my family.
Now, being almost 2 years into my adventure here in Japan, I’m enjoying my experience but wonder who I would be if I had stayed closer to home. Would I be taking the risks that I’m taking right now? Would I be as independent as I am now? Would I have been happier if I had stuck to what I knew? Of course, I will never truly know the answer to all of these questions but I think it’s important to consider how my choices have shaped me and how they will continue to impact my life. Maybe this whole spiel is just a product of the far-too-many philosophy-related courses I’m taking, but I have realized that while changing the past is futile, learning from it is more than possible and extraordinarily important. If we all did that, maybe the world would be different?