What if? Say what?

What if instead of having curing hair, your hair was straight?  So what if everyone else is jumping off the cliff, does that mean you have to?  You don't say; well I guess that makes it so then, doesn't it? It seems to me that we as humans like to play this game way to often.  How many times have you asked yourself the "What If" question?  How many times have you stopped to question something you just heard, not because you didn't know what was being said, but rather you were simply amazed that it was being said in the first place?

Each of these statements seem to puts us in a position of confrontation.  Now not confrontation in the form of fighting or lashing out, but rather conflict within us.  When you ask the what if question you are focusing on the past and not on what lies ahead of you.  We have all asked the what if question in our life, but has asking the question every changed anything that has already happened?  Of course not, so why waste the energy in the first place?  I could sit here and ask a million questions about things in my life.  Why was I a twin?  What could have been had I done this, or done that?

We are approaching that time of year when people begin to ask themselves questions about the previous year.  They look at what they wanted to accomplish during the year and many are taking an inventory of what did or didn't happen.  What would have happened if one zigged when they should have zagged?  "If only I had done it this way." "So what if it didn't work out, I didn't want it anyway."  You could come up with a ton of stuff that fits into each category, but the question I have for you this morning is this:  What does it matter?  I mean really, in the total scheme of things does any of this questioning or wonder do anything to add a single second to your life?

When one focuses on the "What ifs" you have taken your focus off what is most important and placed in on something that can do nothing for you.  Certainly we can learn from past experiences, both good and bad.  What we can't do is turn back the hands of time and change the outcome.  Now there will be those who will say that asking the what if question is a good thing.  It has helped people make needed changes in their life, all brought on by the lessons that have been learned through experiences.    I agree, we can learn and we can ask, but what I am talking about is the fixation that some people have.  They are frozen because they can't understand why something happened, when they were expecting just the opposite.  Always asking the what if question is a sure sign that one is not content with their place in life at the moment.  I've asked what if so many times in my life and I've spent hours on top of hours, days on top of days, and even years trying to figure things out.  Not one moment spent asking the what ifs has really changed anything.

There are times when you can ask "What if?" For instance, if you are trying to change something in an experiment, you might ask yourself what if we change this amount to...or what if we do this instead?  What I want to caution you about is the second guessing that so many people do in their lives, these are the "what ifs" that are a waste of time.  If you are always second guessing yourself then you are not focused on the right things.  Second guessing is nothing more then doubting.  Second guessing is nothing more than saying that the Universe is wrong and your divine walk is nothing but folly.

What if and $2.95 will get you a cup of coffee.  Don't allow this to be the dominant force in your life. I know I have made mistakes in my life, everyone has, but I also know that I am exactly where I need to be right now, doing the things that I am doing right now. Second guessing and always wondering "what if" will never get you to that place where serenity rules your life.  Second guessing and wondering what if, will never change what has always been your destiny.  Destiny is never a "What If".  Destiny is accepting the things that take place and realizing that they are happening for a reason. What would my life be like right now had I never written my first book? What would my life be like right now had I never taken that first step?  I could ask those questions all day long and still I would be where I am at in this very moment.  Stop second guessing and start accepting.  Accept that things are as they need to be. Accept that there are no coincidences in life and things happen for a very specific reason.  We might now have all the answers that we would like when we want them, but what you have is a knowing that things are as they need to be.

It is time to remove the "what ifs" and instead accept the "this is how it is".  This is how it is, because this is how it needs to be.  Find the joy in being where you are right now.  In joy you will find peace, and in peace you will find truth.  The truth that says you have a destiny and you will walk in that destiny.  It may take faith, it may require patience, but it will come to you, and when it does you will never have to wonder "what if".