Have you ever seen that movie, Sliding Doors, with Gwyneth Paltrow?
1998
It’s about a girl who loses her job. She goes to catch the tube home early. In one instance she makes the train, but in another (parallel) instance, she watches the doors slide close, and she misses it. The movie follows both scenarios.
This movie fascinated me on the scale of what if? The what if moments we miss. The what could happen moments, or might happen, with a different decision, or circumstance.
How many times have we been delayed at home by missing keys? By the time we find them and get down the road, there is a horrific accident with twisted cars. Do you wonder if that might have been you?
What if I hadn’t signed up for Facebook? Would I have met Jason? Or so many others online that I adore from ediets, myspace, sparkpeople, and blogging – most recently Queen of the Dogs – Peedee, and her daughter Lauren.
My favorite Cowboys fan living in Florida.
What if my mom’s summer fling in 1984 hadn’t ended, and we had stayed in San Diego? Would I have started Junior High wearing OP and carrying a surfboard? Would I have lost my hick accent they all adored? What if my brother and I had lost the fight against the jet stream we had gotten caught in at Imperial Beach? Would the lifeguards have reached us in time? We could see them on the beach with their lifebuoys in hand. We swam to exhaustion, but did in fact land on the beach without help.
What if I hadn’t gotten on plane when I was four years old, and then at thirteen? Would I have fallen in love with travel? With flying? With seeing the world? Or if Eastern Airlines hadn’t gone off strike, and I had actually shipped off to Clearwater Beach, Florida for flight attendant training when I was hired in 1990…..then afterward lived and worked based out of New York City? Would my life had turned out different? I can’t even imagine. I would have been so scared, but I would have gone, no doubt in my mind. And what if I hadn’t left Oklahoma and stayed in that small dusty town? What would I be doing?
What if my mom hadn’t named me after my Uncle Angel? Could I have claimed my name fame via Richard Marx in the 80’s?
And yes, this is how my name is officially pronounced. However, in Oklahoma it got slurred to ANGE-UH-LIA. Rather than, ANGEL-LIA. Meh. Potato – Patato. Besides, I grew up being called Angie, because everyone in our family was not called by their birth certificate names, but by nicknames; Dortha – Deedy. Gary -Lonnie. James – Jay. Angelia – Angie. In highschool, I insisted on spelling my name ANGE. Why? Because it’s the first part of my name and isn’t that what mom did? Just dropped the LIA. I still said it was ANGIE, just spelled ANGE. My brothers gave me hell for that.
Then there was the plethora of animals we had the joys of raising; a skunk, a hog nosed snake, a pet squirrel, multiple rabbits (heh), dogs who had puppies, several cats who had kittens, and don’t forget hamsters, fish, and sheep. Yes sheep. My brother showed them in FFA. In fact, I showed once or twice. They even had baby lambs every spring. Now, we did eat one of the babies the following year. Apparently, that is what you are supposed to do. Gee. Just seems wrong to eat your pet sheep named Reefer. True story.
My parents loved animals, great and small. If they hadn’t, would I still love animals? Would I have three dogs?
So many small things that add up to big things…life things…moments that slide past and do we really even notice them?
If I could change something about my life in one of those moments, do you know what it would be?
Nothing.
Not a thing.
Without each of those moments, happening at just that time, I wouldn’t be who I am. Me and ya know? I’m finally okay with that.
This post was inspired by
What would you change about your life if you could?
Now, if I had a moment, when say……I won the lottery. Then, I’d reconsider that last statement. 🙂
Living, Loving, Laughing.... 
love this point! It’s something Rob and I continuously talk about. We’ve both been through a lot of crap, especially with first marriages… but why would we trade it in? when we’ve found each other? And wouldn’t have otherwise?…
I always link it to the rascal flatts song… “God Blessed the Broken Road… that led me straight to you.”
He knows what he’s doing… he’s making us appreciate…. and oh how I do! (Well, most days anyhow! lol)
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Hi Angelia (now I know how to properly pronounce your name!)
This is a lovely post – when I thought about this prompt I remembered some events and decisions that in isolation I would have wished to have done differently but, as you explain so very well, every decision and action we take in life has a knock on effect to everything that follows, So like you, I would not change a single thing if it meant I did not find myself where I am today with the people I have in my life. So thank you for articulating it all so very well.
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I need to see this movie – I love that you want to change nothing about your life.
We are all more blessed than we think we are.
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So, so true!
And from a parent’s perspective, it’s comforting to know that decisions we make will turn out ok. 🙂
P.S. Gotta love that BIG 80s hair!
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I loved that movie. I was young enough when I saw it (while spending a summer between college semesters in Norway!) to really appreciate what it was trying to say.
Makes you want to slow down just a little, and think before you take each step, doesn’t it? But never any regrets: they accomplish nothing but wasting time.
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You know, I never saw that movie. How dumb is that? I’ve heard all about it and knew the concept and even heard it was really good, but it has yet to play in front of me. I need to put it on my list.
Yes, I wonder all the time about how one tiny move could make so much difference in a life, but you know what? I wouldn’t change a thing either. If I hadn’t followed a dumb boy to Austin all those years ago, not knowing a soul, and then promptly had my heart broken… I never would’ve met my husband, the light of my life.
It’s definitely all happening for a reason. Again, a great post!
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I sometimes think about these things, too. Mind you, I haven’t quite got the ‘acceptance of it all’ part down the way you do–on the odd occasion I’ll drop in on ‘What if’ just to see what he’s up to, but you’re right–where we ARE is pretty good! Once we realize that, figure out it’s about contentment and loving others, we can start being grateful for everything along the way that helped us get here.
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Love love love this post! And girl, you are SO right. Without ALL those moments (warts and all) we surely would not be who we are today. Our past experiences good and bad have made us the strong resilient women that we are today.
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Its an interesting thing to contemplate, isn’t it?
When I consider the paths I’ve taken and not taken, I’m more convinced than ever of two things:
1) There IS a God and He loves me
2) I must provide Him with endless amusement and my guardian angel with many heart attacks.
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Very true Ange, you make some good points because what we go through does shape who we become, change some of the past experiences and would we be any different, that is a hard one to answer but like you I am happy where I am now and if going back to change something was possible I am sure I could name a few I would like to do over, but I am afraid if I did that I would probably make the same decisions again 🙂
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My hubby and I always have this discussion but from a different angle. He is a Sci Fi fan and EVERYTHING Sci Fi has touched upon time travel at ONE point or another. And I believe that if ONE little thing gets out of place it would change things.
As an example, if I was NOT in the space where a fly flew and then I traveled back in time and interupted that fly’s flight pattern, God KNOWS what could change. So because I feel like the slightest thing could change the biggest things I would be afraid to change anything, because if I were to have not met and married my Wonder-Hubby, I would have missed the BEST things there are in my life right now.
And BTW, whatever you did to get to be you right now, GOOD JOB, I love that I have “met” you! Thank you for you!
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I agree, what if…I think of that a lot, and for some things I wish I had chosen another path, for other things, I know I have done the right things. Someone said to me once, he never regretted anything what he did in his life. I cannot feel that way. I do have regrets and I do think now and then, what if….
But, I am happy what I am and where I am now 🙂
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Excellent post! I do think about the “what ifs” all the time but that is usually when I’m so fed up with my life or what’s going on with it at the moment. I love how you looked at the “what ifs” from the positive point of view. Thanks for the insight!
stopping by from mama kat’s
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Well, my dear friend. You have grown so since I first ‘met’ you. All of our what-ifs are just that and perhaps, one day, when it won’t matter, we’ll have the opportunity to look back (or ahead) and see how things would have been different if we’d taken a left instead of a right.
This is a phenomenal post.
I consider it a true trusting in God to venture forth and not want to change our pasts.
You are so blessed, Angelia.
And all of us are, for knowing you.
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Angelia, even the bad things that we can’t avoid happen for a reason. I have been 30 seconds away from an horrific accident, and have felt that that extra minute I took to find my lost keys saved me from harm.
Even if your parents had never had pets, they, and you, would still love animals, because that is the way they are made.
Please give little Brownie a squeeze from his Aunti Judie. Then you can make him sound like a squeaky toy!
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Fun post. Growing up in OKC, I did not get exposed to the Okie drawl until college.
I like to consider the almosts and what might have been in my life as well–what unique journeys we are all on.
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When a person comes to realize that they are who they are and they are happy with who they be….then, you can see the world with many smiles. 🙂 I am happy you are content and happy with your life. I love that you can say that about yourself. 🙂 Hope you continue to have many magical moments in life. 🙂
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Yes! I’ve owned this movie since it came out. I watch it all of the time and I love it! You are seriously one of the only people that I’ve known to see this movie. I’m glad somebody else was able to enjoy such a great movie ❤
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Angelia and Richard??? That is sooooo hot!
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So true this post is. I always wonder what if??? lol
It was a true pleasure meeting you and Jason. We’ll do it again, I promise!!!
Muahs!! and give Jason kisses from us too!!
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Beautiful, beautiful.
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Hey! Oh, I seriously think about this a lot in waves! In fact, I was just laughing about it the other day. Was singing Suzanne Vega’s song, ‘If I had met You on Some Journey’ and just thinking about this. But like You, I’m pretty okay just where I am and with who I appear to be at this moment in time. Tick Tock! Thanks for this lovely post! I’m glad You did all You did so I got to know You, even just here in blogland! Hugs and Cheers and Namaste. 🙂
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Have you ever read the book Celestine Prophecy?? Its kind of wild in that it changes the way you see things that happen to you…the bad things, like being late, and whatnot…how you missed out on something even worse. GREAT book!!
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Great post! I love thinking about things like this. I love that movie, too.
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Sometimes if there’s someone driving slowly in front of me, I imagine that their speed is keeping from something terrible down the road. Do you ever do that?
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Very thought provoking post. It was mind blowing to me to realize if I hadn’t gone through my first marriage, I wouldn’t have my excellent children.
I too wouldn’t change anything. It has taught me to relax and enjoy even the most challenging moments – the silver lining will reveal itself someday.
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I enjoyed the movie Sliding Doors and recently I read a book with the same concept, but I don’t actually don’t like playing the what if game in my own life because like you, I am okay with me and where I am.
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I’m sure we’ve all wondered that at times, but of course there’s no way of knowing how differently our lives might’ve turned out. But your solution is the best, and it’s also mine: To be grateful for the life I have.
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I love this post! I am a true believer that if this hadn’t happened then I wouldn’t be who I am and I really like who I am.
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I don’t think there are many things I’d change. Perhaps, I’d take a different subject for university. Not that I don’t like what I’m doing, but it was the more practical decision. Now I’d be more adventurous and study architecture…
But beside this, I can’t think of anything…
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Happy weekend.
I left you a little token of appreciation at my last post.
Later, sweetie.
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Loved that movie! Love this blog. I often think about those what ifs? Especially in the wake of Mike’s accident. If he’d just put off his errand til the following morning. What if I’d decided to ride along? What if Lu hadn’t been running late home for work and had arrived at that intersection? What if Mike hadn’t had the accident and someone else had been hit by that driver? So many “ifs”. I firmly believe that life works out the way it’s supposed to. And all our choices make us who we are. I wouldn’t change anything either. Not one single moment of who I am.
♥Spot
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cute,
Happy Saturday!
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I sometimes think my life feels like a particularly well-plotted novel – where each scene leads inexorably to the next through a string of unlikely events. But of course, I can consider it only from the perspective of where I’ve ended up 😉
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I think about this in terms of love. So many people believe there is a true love for each person. But there are too many what ifs for me to believe that. What if I had moved? Or hadn’t? What if I took that job? Or hadn’t?
You get the picture. We are who we are based on the decisions we’ve made.
But it is interesting to ponder.
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Thanks so much for stopping by and entering the Swanson’s Challenge.
I am so glad things workd out the way they. You seem to be in the right place.
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I chose the same prompt… love your take on it. I do that too, think of the “what ifs?”
theworkinghousewife.wordpress.com
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oh my gosh! i’m fascinated by Sliding Doors also. I watched it one night really late. No one ever knows what movie i’m talking about though. “What ifs” are always interesting 🙂 I’ve come to the same conclusion to the last year or so. glad you’re doing well!
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