Would you Choose a Different Path

So I’m back to work on my latest manuscript and I’m really excited to be delving into some new characters after having worked on a series for the past eighteen months. This new novel deals a lot with the decisions we’ve made in our lives and whether or not we’d wished we’d chosen a different path. That got me thinking, not just about this novel, but about the choices I’ve made in my own life. Could I have chosen a different path? They say hind sight is 20/20, but if I had made different choices when I was at a cross-road,and there have been many, would I still have ended up right here, exactly where I’m at today? Fate, destiny… that sort of thing, you know? If we ultimately end up in the same place, does that mean our paths are predetermined? Mind-boggling, I know!

It’s funny because I have never really thought about it until now. I’m not the type of person to look back. I never have been. Sometimes I think that can be a good thing, but it can also be a hindrance. If I had examined some of my past decisions, would I be better suited to handle certain situations in my life now? We are supposed to learn from our mistakes, aren’t we? But what if a mistake was only defined by the end result? Oh boy, I could go on until my head explodes!

So as I ponder these deep, soul-searching questions, I am compelled to dig even deeper into the main characters in my new thriller. They will have a past and a future that could easily be altered by something they don’t yet understand. And quite frankly, neither do I. Not yet anyway.

This is why I love writing. I get to explore ideas and turn them into realities, for my characters, at least. Are there choices you’ve made you wish could be changed? Do you wonder where your life would be if you had?