As is my habit, I often have several nights of broken sleep when I travel long haul. 15 hours to Japan was enough to ensure I practiced my habit and have found myself reading in the early hours of the morning when the rest of the world slumbered. Such is life.

So imagine my delight to find there are several lengthy train journeys ahead. The gentle swaying of the train is always an invitation to deep relaxation…Zzzzzz. But today it was not to be. I was booked on the Bullit Train! This sleek beast sliced through the countryside at an awesome speed and, what I had anticipated as a leisurely journey was substantially reduced. I barely had time to blink, let alone sleep, before we had arrived. Amazing experience, however, I feel a little cheated.

So what’s to be done when two experiences come along and don’t fit together? I mean, what if I am going to have to weigh one choice against another. And yes, sometimes the choice is easy to make. As is said, “there’s no comparison”. But sometimes, whatever I chose, I risk a sense of loss for not having had the alternative experience. I feel life’s been unfair, forcing such choices on me.

I remember sitting in meetings, regular meetings, with a group of business leaders and we would share our situations expecting feed back or guidance. On more than one occasion there would be a situation where a member of the group had come to a fork in life’s road and a choice needed to be made. Often as the person talked through the options it would become obvious what they wanted, in their heart. The issue was, the thing they wanted lay in a brave new world, a world of uncertainties, whereas the alternative was in a place of security, within their comfort zone. As I listened I often knew they would forever live with a degree of regret if they didn’t take the new path. The question, “What if?” would come again and again coupled with a mild sense of failure. The unknown verses the known. The Bullit Train experience verses a couple of hours of needed sleep. The dilemma.

I have also sat with people who want to tell me they have made the wrong decision and are now filled with regret. They want to go back to the fork in the road, try again, make the other choice. But they need to realise that even if they can go back things are never going to be the same. Time has passed, experiences have been accumulated, changes have occurred. Maybe they can make things work but they will not be the same as was. I guess if you have one of these choice situations you should not enter into it lightly, rather make it a decision that is taken responsibly.

There’s a word that many do not want to hear today!

Responsibly. Thought through, wise counsel taken. The consequences needing to be weighed and understood (for there are always, always consequences). Remember, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread”, and many a person has realised how foolish they’ve been, in retrospect, having grasp at a new experience with little or no consideration.

Life can be exciting, filled with experiences, lived on the edge, but it should be balanced by living responsibly with the consequences of our choices understood. Responsibility does not negate new paths but rather it makes those paths sounder under foot and, dare I say, it tempers the chance of regret. A better choice will be made.

So, live life responsibly and whilst doing so continue to grasp your chances if they fit. Be patient in your decision making so you will be aware of the consequences that lay ahead. And in doing so, may you live without regret. Now, another train journey today, on a more sedate train. Who said “you can’t have your cake and eat it too”!

Yours, enjoying a responsible life,

Wic