NO INSTRUCTIONS
“This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill…and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill…I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
If only life would come with an instruction book to guide us along the way on this difficult journey. A journey of self-discovery, of navigating through trying times, of getting through the joys and hardships of parenthood with as few bruises as possible. If only we knew how best to handle the many obstacles which come along the way without destroying every relationship in the process. If only hindsight was an option we get to choose in life as one of our special powers. Alas, such desires are not a part of this life we live.
We go through life making mistakes along the way. We think we are doing the right thing when, in fact, we are doing the exact opposite. We base current decisions on a state of mind which is under stress and tired without thought about what our decisions would be in a state opposite from the one we are in. We attempt to make things right but time has passed and the opportunity to do so has passed as well.
Stumbling along the way, we get up and start again only to get knocked down by life’s cruelties. We struggle to be heard in the sea of the world’s cries but such cries fall on deaf ears as we go unheard and oftentimes unseen. Misunderstandings cross our paths on occasion but learning to forgive and move on is a something we develop with time. By the time we learn such skills, the moment has passed. The moment to turn back time and make right that which we made wrong.
Every day is a chance to start anew. A chance to make a choice to be happy with the life we have been given. However, the past is still with us as are our mistakes. Mistakes which can no longer be undone. Mistakes which forever change the path we are on. We wonder what would have been had we chosen the blue pill instead of the red pill. We wonder why cannot go back to a simpler time when our actions had less severe consequences.
If only life came with an instruction book, with a list of the correct decisions to make in certain situations. If only we knew what comes next in life, what waits for us as we turn the corner. We find we need to live with the choices we make. We do the best we can and move forward, learning lessons the hard way and hoping not to make the same mistakes in the future. In the end, life remains a mystery with no instructions.
