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What Could Have Been
By karen | May 29, 2008
Five bucks and the bargain bin at America’s largest retailer and now we own a favorite old movie. We first watched it in the year 2000, which does not seem so long ago but bits and pieces were forgotten, the story remembered. We were happy to have found this treasure.
Through the magic of cinema we see a man who is able to catch a “glimpse”, a glimpse of what might have been had different decisions been made. He is transported from working on Wall Street and having “enough money to buy anything that he wanted” and driving a Ferrari to a middle class home in New Jersey with a beautiful wife, 2 adorable children, a big dog and a job that is not quite what he dreamed about. The minivan gets the family around but it doesn’t have the zing of the Ferrari.
So he spends some time figuring out this “new life” and getting used to walking the dog and being the husband and the daddy. He spends some time wondering how all this came to be and whatever happened to his great apartment on Fifth avenue. A different decision was made. His life could have gone in a couple of different directions. The “glimpse” was the opposite of what he chose.
It was sad at the end when it came time to go back to his “real life” because by then he realized all of the wonderful and joyful things that he had missed and he wanted to keep the life that was in the “glimpse”. The Ferrari and the apartment, the single life and the great job all paled in comparison to the love and the joy of the wife and the kids, and having the family.
But back he went. He called the old girlfriend who could have been his wife. Her life was different too. He tried to tell her what they had but of course she never got to have the “glimpse”. He did convince her to go out for coffee…and the movie faded to black.
So what if you could have made different decisions? What if your life had turned out different?
Ferrari or Minivan……
I see my “dream car” from my college days. A studly looking older gentleman with gray hair drives it around the town I live in. I see it and I laugh because it no longer has the appeal that it once had. I cannot even imagine driving it and it absolutely does not fit my life. It’s a two-seater, no place for my kids. I look at that car and I am so grateful that I don’t have it. Now I drive the car that matches my dreams. It’s big enough for my kids, the groceries and the sacks of soil that I may pick up at Home Depot. It fits my life and my lifestyle. Much better than any little two-seater . Can you imagine 3 kids piled in the back of that teeny little car? The image makes me laugh! I’m sure that the gray-haired guy enjoys it but that car never would have fit my real dreams.
Manolo Blahnick’s or Skechers? A Business suit or tank tops and sweatshirts?
We create our own lives. We create our dreams or not.
Would you want a “glimpse” of what could have been?
I wouldn’t. I have the life I want and I am grateful.
“Joy is what happens when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are”
Marianne Williamson
(P.S. The movie was “The Family Man” starring Nicolas Cage and Tea’ Leoni)
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Topics: Living the Power, Real Life, Reflections |
May 30th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
I really enjoyed that movie as well - just a great parable for understanding the choices we make (or don’t make) and their impacts on our life.
It makes me aware that true wisdom encompasses not just the past knowledge integrated into the present, in a manner of speaking it integrates future knowledge also into the present.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Hi, Karen;
I love that you have embraced your ‘now’ life - that you have no regrets and instead have really looked with love at what you have created.
This post reminds me of a song by Garth Brooks called ‘Unanswered Prayers’…same kind of thing, where he meets the girl he would have died to marry in high school and now realizes how perfect it is that he never got the chance…
Enjoy your weekend in your authentic, happy life!
Shauna
xo
May 30th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Chris,
It is a great movie! I loved it then and now.
True wisdom…yes.
Shauna,
I love that song, I think I might have even written a post about just that….don’t recall but I’ll look!
yes, I am Blessed! I am grateful!
Enjoy your weekend too! Looks like it’s going to be sunny here! yeah!!
June 4th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
First, thanks for the blog! Some really interesting stuff.
Secondly, I’d also like to share with you this book I finished that might offer you some new insights. It’s called Harmonic Wealth and it’s all about finding harmony in your life in all areas - financial, relational, mental, physical, and spiritual. It has some really good tips about how to engage all five pillars (or areas) of your life, and to learn more about how they complement each other. Rather than dealing with each issue individually, maybe take a look at the bigger picture.
Here’s the link to that book I recommend: harmonicwealth.com/read
- A fan of James Ray
June 4th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Great minds must think alike ;)….
I’m reading that book right now!
June 18th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Cool, Karen! Have you seen the YouTube videos, too? My favorite, so far.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjSGT_GBZDA
Namaste!
JR Fan
June 18th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Wow, I’ll have to check it out! Sounds great! I saw James Ray at a free seminar here and he is a powerful and inspiring teacher…