The Biggest Mistake of My Life

If I’m only in my twenties, can I still make the biggest mistake of my life? Of course, some decisions are easy. Lying, cheating, stealing, and killing are generally considered to be wrong, but given the right circumstances, even some of these can go both ways. When you lie on a resume to get a job, is it necessarily dishonest or just a way to get your foot in the door? If you cheat on your taxes, will you come to regret it or get away with it? Or if the unimaginable happens and you must hurt another to save the life of someone you love, are you a hero or a villain?

And what about the decisions that are already made for us. Should I finish high school and go to college? That one is easy, just ask your parents. Should I work hard and try to save my money? Should I eat right and exercise? Should I do unto others as I would have them do unto to me? Of course you should, just ask anyone. But, what happens when the answers aren’t so black and white?

Almost all decisions have a few shades of grey and it seems that these are the ones that haunt us, when the obvious answers aren’t so obvious. If you lie to a friend to save her feelings, will she hate you for forever? If you cheat on him, can your relationship ever really be the same? Do you tell him hoping that he will forgive you or hoping that you can forgive yourself? Or do you say nothing at all? If you steal her boyfriend, is it all part of the game or will your reputation be tarnished beyond repair? And if you’ve truly lost someone, can you ever get them back? When in life there are no guarantees, does our fear of making the wrong decision stop us from being able to make the right one? And once you’ve made your choice, can you ever live it down?

Oftentimes, the decisions we make in the grey are the ones that we remember the most. And the hardest decisions are the ones we put off making for ourselves. But, if there is no right or wrong answer, how do we decide? Do we ask our family and friends for advice, follow our gut feelings, or listen to our heart, when they’ve all led us astray in the past? Or do we choose what we think we want and cross our fingers and take a chance. Is there anything I can do or anyone that I can trust to save me from making the biggest mistake of my life?

And after it’s done, will I even know that I made it? Will I ever be able to look back and pinpoint the wrong turn or bad choice, or will it just be lost among the list of things that I wish I did differently? Can what I do today, in my twenties, really be my biggest regret? As the years go by, will we spend our whole lives wondering what could have been and hoping that everything turned out for the best? Or is it possible that the biggest mistake of my life could turn out to be the best decision that I never knew I made. And will I always be grateful that I don’t know, what if.