What if ...?

What if ... ?

Yesterday a friend and I watched the movie Letters to Juliet.  It was predictable and enjoyable and will make most women smile. Men might not find it to be their cup of tea, or bottle of _________. But I liked it, and found myself wishing a little true romance for all women. True romance coupled with true love. I think that often one comes without the other. How fortunate for those who have both.

Claire, the main character of the film (played by Vanessa Redgrave), went back to a small town in Italy to look for her lost love of fifty years. She found many men willing to claim to be him, but she knew better. When she thought she had finally found him, she was scared and was going to run away before he saw her. Who could blame her? Imagine how crushing it would be if he didn't remember her. Imagine how devestating it would be if he remembered her and was polite, but indifferent. Imagine if his wife would be jealous (perhaps rightfully so) and cause problems for him.  And, of course, there was a sub-plot of two young people who had just met and were at odds as to what was best for Claire.

This movie can make us wonder about the what if's in our own lives.  There are choices that some of  us wish we had made differently. There are certain irreversibles, for which bemoaning the if only's would be useless, unproductive, and sometimes depressing. But Time does not stand still. Wishing and hoping doesn't make it so. That being said, are there things we can do now to prevent us from saying, "What if..." sometime later in our lives? Doing even one thing may make all the difference. Just one thing.

Some of us know exactly what the one thing is. Some of us may have to ponder it awhile. And perhaps there are some of us for whom nothing comes to mind. But the question is important. We all should be courageous enough to ask it -- and if answered, wise enough to pray for guidance as to how to proceed. Choices we make affect others. We must ask for wisdom. We must ask for guidance. And I believe that if we ask, we shall receive.

For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these:  "It might have been!"
   John Greenleaf Whittier