What if? -- Gratitude!

by Irwin Lengel

Have you ever given any thought to all the “What if” type questions we think of when we allow our minds to wander too far off the “here and now?”

Many such questions raced through my mind rather recently as I lay quietly trying to go back to sleep.

The human brain is quite remarkable. In trying to rid my mind of current things that tend to slip into my psyche and bother me, I found myself allowing my mind to wander into various scenarios.

So, picture this if you will, it is two o’clock in the morning and rather than lie there thinking about the numerous things running through your mind, two words pop into your mind – yup, you got it – “what if?”. What do you do? In my case, since apparently, I wasn’t going to fall back to sleep, I thought: Hey, those two words are an opening to a post I could write. To my desk I go.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane for a moment, if you will:

What if…… you had never joined the Army way back then? What would you be doing now?

What if…… when you did muster out of the Army, you had gone with another guy that had mustered out at the same time and you went on to California as he had suggested but instead you returned to your hometown.

What if……. you had never gone on that blind date?

What if…. you had never accepted that job as an insurance rater?

What if …… you hadn’t changed from what was known back then as Personal Lines insurance to Commercial Lines insurance?

What if you hadn’t pursued furthering your education to earn well-respected designations in the insurance industry?

What if …. You hadn’t been bold enough to move from the NE to the SE leaving family and friends to start a new adventure?

I could go on and on but hopefully you get the idea of what I am trying to reflect here.

All one must do at this point is stop and ask himself or herself:

-- How old am I and where am I today?
-- Am I happy?
-- Do I have my health?
-- Do I have a home, a family, and a few bucks in the bank?
If the answer to these questions is a resounding YES, well then compared to many others and what is going on in the world today, why aren’t you sleeping?

One must stop at this point and ask himself or herself: Was it worth it?
Which brings me to yet another word that comes to mind and that is Gratitude.

If all the answers to one’s “what if” questions are yes, and it was worth it – why aren’t you sleeping?

Your conclusion tells you that the choices you have made up to this point in your life have gotten you this far – why change now?

Only question that one should be asking at this point is:

What new adventures will today bring?

Okay, it is now three o’clock and time to go back to sleep because that alarm goes off at 5:30 to start a new day. Perhaps if I am fortunate enough to go back to sleep, perhaps I can dream about what tomorrow will bring.

As Porky Pig used to say: THAT’S ALL, FOLKS!’

Until next time. Y’all take care now, ya hear!

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