Turn Left

Do you ever wonder where you'd have ended up if you hadn't taken the route you're on? There are so many "turn left" moments in life (hats off to Doctor Who) that it's hard to know what the big missed opportunities are. In retrospect, we often do. Hindsight allows us to see the missed chances that either caused us to despair or made us work twice as hard to compensate for the gap. We can also see those choices that made us different; ones that were risky or frightening but pushed us in the direction we're now going. And here we are. For better or for worse, it's where we've landed.

But what about those little things? The smile you didn't give someone who really could have used it? Not holding the door open for that exhausted mother with the stroller because you, too, were tired? The time you gave someone you didn't like the ice treatment but that "one time" has become a habit, a knee-jerk, so that now you are always aloof, a snob, a cold wall? If you'd never started on that path, you wouldn't have to work so hard to right it. But right it you should.

Try to identify the number of times in your day that you could choose the kinder word, the extra effort, the risky push, the unselfish choice, but are tempted to not. Which will it be?

Push yourself.