The Two Faces of ‘What If?’
They came to me with a bewildering tale of how they were lining up for a lifetime of ongoing tests. Each one is seemingly innocuous in and of itself, but any one could be life-changing. It wasn’t an easy way for this person to live, but that was their lot. In the end, we agreed that we were fortunate to live at this point in history and in this culture where we had such attentive medicos and access to such great medicine.
It took my friend a while to get into this way of thinking, but most of the time, that’s how they came to reason and live. Most of the time… But… with each looming appointment and icky test, the inevitable question would raise its hoary head and roar… “What if?” That was a long time ago, and the last time I heard, they had gone on to live a rich, long, fulfilling life.
But the question ‘What if?’ also has a flip side.
What if we made an honest and long-lasting attempt to be quieter for longer? What if we wrote that ‘Thinking of you card’? What if I didn’t look at a screen for 24 hours?
You see the two faces of the question ‘What if’.
When my fearful friend asked this question, it was an understandable inward-looking, at self-inciting doubt and fear. For a few days, it would cripple their potential and joy.
The other way of asking the question looks outward to others and how we might enhance someone else's life.
Both have their place, but the former will frivolously waste our time pondering unknowables, whereas the 'other face' can inspire us to actually do something positive and enriching.
I know which face I would rather gaze upon.