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Decisions and Their Affect on the Path of My Life

Every day a person makes hundreds of decisions. Some of these include the mundane things in life: What am I going to wear? What do I eat for breakfast? However, each person at some time comes to a point in their lives when they must choose a path. This event is appropriately named a crossroad because that decision could entirely change the direction of ones life. This event does not happen just once in a lifetime although each time it could mean something totally different. I myself, at the young age of sixteen can think of many instances when I hit a crossroad.

Therefore, one can only imagine how many times this would happen to a full grown human being. With any decision comes satisfaction, regret, and a philosophical curiosity of what couldve been. One of the major decisions of my life thus far would be my decision for a high school. Repeatedly through childhood, we are told that our high school years are the best of our lives. Therefore, I knew I would have to choose carefully where I wanted to spend the next four years. I couldve gone with the simple decision; I couldve gone with the flow. Most of the people in my elementary school were naturally going to the home school, Notre Dame.

In fact, I was days away from the same fate. However, one day while sitting in class the day before Mayfield applications were due I spontaneously thought that I should just go for it. I had a lot of the typical worries, such as many of my friends not being there, but decided to take the leap of faith. Today, I couldnt be more satisfied with my decision. My love of drama and the theatrical arts has developed me into a totally different person, who I believe was there and hidden all along. I have met great friends who I cant imagine my life without.

Furthermore, I have seen many of my old friends who chose my rejected decision of going to Notre Dame and have changed from the people I knew into someone else due to an environment that I believe to be different than Mayfield. I remain more than satisfied with my life choice that will forever shape my future. Although satisfaction is a product of many decisions, regret is a product that seems to stand out a lot more. One situation that repeatedly stands out in my life is my loss of a great childhood friend in grade eight. When I look back, I repeatedly see this as my fault in the decision I made.

The situation was typical. It was, as popularly seen in an after-school-special soap opera, over a girl. Her and I broke up but werent entirely done with our relationship yet, and he moved in (its complicated teenager stuff). Looking back, it was stupid to ignore him after that and throw away the many years of friendship that we had. It seemed like a justified decision at the time but as one gets older, matures, and realizes their priorities, they see the mistakes made. With mistakes, come their not too distant cousins regrets. And with regrets, come the age-old question of What if? The question of What if? s something that always overshadows the satisfaction or regret in decisions. Even if you are happy with your decisions, path, or life, you will still wonder what would have happened if you made the wrong decisions. For me, it is a common thought imagining myself going to another school and wondering if I would be changed into the pot-head, drunk, delinquent that I have seen so many good people change into. An even more common thought, as I walk by his house each day from school, is if my friend and I couldve worked through the problem and remained close to this day if I was only willing to try.

We often hear in the media of people who have made so many life-altering mistakes and regret nothing and it is something I still do not understand. By altering only these two choices, my life could be changed drastically, and that fact is both scary and amazing. This curiosity of what couldve happened as we sit and think is looked upon by some as a waste of time. But for me, it is part of who I am, and perhaps even the decision to dwell has lead me on a different path and the path that I am on today. Along with the direct results, satisfaction, regret and curiosity are elements of every life decision that puts us on a new path.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said: Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. As we make our decisions in life, whether they have to do with our wardrobe or our education and future, this is a philosophy that should be considered in order to choose that new path. Our pathway in life will be filled with moments of regret and ecstasy but if we choose and create our own path, I believe we will have an overall satisfaction with how things turned out. There may be many potential lives that I have not lived, but thus far, I am perfectly happy with the life I have chosen.

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