Friday, February 5, 2016

Does Your Life Have a Restart Button?

A question was recently posed to me that I believe many of us have wondered about: 
In Stephen King's 11/22/63, the protagonist is asked to travel back in time to prevent JFK's assassination. If given the opportunity, what event in your own life or in history might you travel in time to change and what would your life afterward look like?
I must admit that I laughed out loud when I read this because I have had major traumas in my life and it would require me to live my life entirely over if I wanted to change even one of them.
Let's break it down a bit:  

1)  I  would not have married the man my parents and family warned me against.  If I had not married him then my life would have been a lot easier after the divorce.  I would not have been gang-raped and left for dead.  I would not have had my home completely destroyed by a gang of vandals.  I would not have had an emotional and physical breakdown.  
my wedding day was an awful mistake
Even on that day, I was hiding my pain - knowing it was a mistake

HOWEVER.....I learned a lot from those experiences and they helped make me the strong woman I am today.

2)  I would have convinced my husband to find another way to face the music rather than run away.  Even though our intentions were good, the court did not see it that way and my husband went to prison for fraud as a result of our accusers lying to the court.  Our only witness to our position committed suicide before the court date.  Story of my arrest here.


wrongfully accused
In FRONT of my little boy who is crying
HOWEVER.....I learned a lot from those experiences and they helped make me the strong woman I am today.

3)  I would not have adopted our little boy.  A year after the adoption, his birth mother wanted OUR son back.  We had no choice.  Read why here.


losing a child is heartbreaking
Adopted or 'home-made' --  losing a child is heartbreaking
HOWEVER.....I learned a lot from this experience and it helped me love my children even more.

4)  I would have taken better care of my health as a young girl to possibly avoid the cancer that almost killed me when I was 24 years old.  

get healthy
However.....if I never had cancer which forced me to find my own cure because I would not have a hysterectomy as the doctor ordered, then I would not have the health I experience today.  I would not have become a symptomogist showing people how to live long and live healthy. Read more here.

5)  I would not have trusted people, friends and business partners who took advantage of my nature and naivety.  I would have avoided losing hundreds of thousands of dollars.


can you trust

HOWEVER....these lessons have been priceless and through my memoir, Battered Hope, have helped hundreds of people avoid these mistakes.  As one reviewer put it "This is a must read for anyone going into business."

Should I go on with more stories or do you understand why I smiled at the question? Each of us can think of things we would love to do over.  None of us is given a RESTART button. Many years ago I stopped saying "If only...." and started saying "How can this help me?  

What about you?  Would you like a 'do-over' and if so, what would you have done differently?  



Picture courtesy of the conservativetreehouse.com, blog.mint.com


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