If Things Were Different, Then They Wouldn’t Be The Same

We ask ourselves a lot of what-if questions in life. What if I got that job? What if she didn't get pregnant? What if I left the house 20 seconds later and wasn't hit by that car? These are the things in life that plague us, especially when they're tragic (or extremely fortunate and you feel guilty).

When I find myself or somebody else asking these questions, I pull out my handy saying: "If things were different, then they wouldn’t be the same." That's ultimately what these thoughts always lead to. Whether you subscribe to fate or chaos theory or the butterfly effect, if things were different, then they wouldn't be the same.

The point of the saying is that there is nothing we can do. The past has already happened and it can't be changed. No matter how much you talk about what might have been, it has no effect on the present moment. So quit it and start doing something productive.

In writing, we ask ourselves the same kind of questions. But now it actually matters. The past may be written, but until it's published, it can be rewritten all you want. Ask these questions, think about the scenarios, peer down the roads that each one of them leads. Pick the one that you like the best and make that be the reality.

If you don't like what you have, then change it. Remember, if things were different, then they wouldn't be the same.