Have you ever wondered how an important choice you made in the past made your life what it is now, and that your life could have been much different if you had made a different choice?
Without saying that one choice is better than the other, you will never know what life would have been making a different choice. It can be a choice of school or university to attend, a choice of career, a choice of partner in business and life, or a choice in a country to live in.
How One Choice Can Change the Course of Your Life.
Every day in life we make little choices that do not have a very big impact on our life as a whole like having cheese or desert at the end of a meal.
In the contrary when you decide to marry someone, this is something that can make your life take a specific direction for the best or the worst. Maybe you had to make a choice between one person or another, or a choice between getting married or staying single. What would have been your life making the other choice?
In my case, I didn't want to stay single as I like company and family life, and I didn't have to choose one person over another, I just let life happen. So I can't imagine how my life would have been making the other choice.
The most important choice I had to make in my life was to decide whether to expatriate myself to Canada or Thailand. One thing was sure, I didn't want to stay in France because I wanted more than being in the system with all its advantages, but also restrictions.
I made that choice when I was about 25 years old and had studied both options.
It was easy to immigrate to Canada as being French there was programs for young people to go work in Quebec as to keep the French language alive. I went to a couple of seminars and all was very clear about how to immigrate, find a job and the different help we could receive.
There was a lot of employment opportunities for me as a young movie/TV cameraman in Quebec, much more than in France, and I liked their lifestyle and way of life. I had a friend in Paris who was from Quebec and she often talked about it. The only thing that I didn't like was the long freezing cold winter they have.
I had submitted my application to immigrate there, I was accepted and just had to go to a medical visit to confirm the whole thing.
Looking at Thailand, a successful immigration there was very uncertain, and finding employment very challenging in a country very much different than France. I have to say that I had been interested in that country since I was 16 after seeing a documentary about it and I had books about many countries in Southeast Asia. I was fascinated by the Thai language and its writing, which I learned even before setting foot there.
You may be interested to read my post: How I Learned the Thai Language
What I liked about Thailand was all the year hot weather, the food and the people. I had also learned that I could work in films there, which I did after a very difficult start. An important factor on the decision was that I was married to a Thai woman, at the time my first wife.
Long story short, guess which country I chose?
Thailand!
And I have been here for 25 years never looking back.
But the purpose of this post is to reflect on what if I had chosen Canada?
I sometimes think about that. Maybe I would still be there and still be married to the same woman, or I would have divorced the same, and then remarried with a Canadian? Maybe I would have had 3 children there, or just moved again to another country.
My life would have been completely different with that choice. Maybe I would have stayed in the same line of work? Maybe this was not destined to happen.
One thing is sure, I would not be married to my lovely wife of today and my lovely daughter would not exist and in fact, her own existence is linked to that choice of going to Thailand instead of Canada.
Insn't that mind bugging?
Of course, there are many other choices that led to meet my wife also, but the first big decision to live in a country instead of another created a life that would not be otherwise.
Is that destiny?
It is possible maybe that I went to Canada, stayed there for a while, then moved to Thailand, met my wife and have my daughter Christina.
Is taking another route would have given the same result?
All images are CC0 from https://pixabay.com except the last one that is my own.
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Michel Gerard
I can totally relate to your post, because I've made life-changing decisions several times now, and my life would have been entirely different had I stayed where I was.
As just one example, I grew up in Los Angeles, California, and although I loved it there, I knew the chances of being able to afford a house one day were slim at best. For that, and many other reasons, including having my car window shot out on my way to work one day, I made my first big move, across the continent to Tampa Bay, Florida.
After becoming a stockbroker, and finding my way to a company that I actually liked working for, as they were ethical and honest, a rarity in the business, the bottom dropped out of the stock market and I suddenly went from making decent money to making nothing. Overnight.
About that time, a German banker and lawyer I'd been corresponding with suggested that I visit him in Luxembourg, potentially to help him with the English part of his research for his doctoral dissertation.
I had always wanted to live in another country, preferably for six months to a year, so I took him up on his invitation, and was in Luxembourg for nearly ten months, which I wouldn't trade for the world. I learned a great deal about myself, and what was really important to me in life, not to mention a great deal about international securities and banking law, while there.
Back in Florida, a series of intense encounters with the spirits of loved ones who had passed on ultimately led me to dissolve my marriage, which after some time, led me to meet my current husband. I've recounted some of these experiences in https://steemit.com/jerrybanfield/@crescendoofpeace/a-passion-of-spirit-swc, which seems to have escaped notice thus far.
More recently, my husband and I chose to move from Florida to a small mini farm in Middle Tennessee, with the intention of turning it into an organic permaculture orchard, incorporating forest farming, aquaponics and more. We've made a lot of progress, but we still have a long way to go.
We ultimately plan on hosting retreats, and possibly using it as a teaching facility, mostly in online video format, to teach others how to live greener, more self-sufficient lives.
Ultimately, I've led an interesting life, mostly due to my ability to keep myself open to new experiences, including a willingness to live in the moment and act spontaneously when warranted.
I had help in this regard, as my dad became a Buddhist when I was twelve, and my mom took me to classes in meditation and yoga when I was seventeen and eighteen, respectively. I still maintain a daily meditation practice, which more than anything else, has helped me remain mindful.
I haven't learned Polish yet, but I'm rededicating myself to the effort, and we would both like to learn French as well, so who knows? Perhaps you'd be willing to assist us along the way in that effort. ;-)
Thanks for your post.
Thank you very much for your long comment, which can be a post in itself, and sharing your experience with us. I put the link you mention in the list and it will be read soon.
Thanks very much. I appreciate the work you've been doing with Jerry Banfield.
It is so important to find those can work with long term and continue to help one another to grow and improve. I'm fortunate to be married to mine.
I love your article, and in my opinion, life is uncertain and what i think is ''whatever happens in life that is for good only''.
One more thing is that can you please give some useful links for learning online marketing. I do not know even basics of it. Thank you.
Thank you very much @lovecreativity for your comment. If you go to my blog, link at the end of the post, there is a banner for SkillShare, click on it and then they still should have a free 2 months period for premium membership where you can enroll in classes for Internet marketing.
I think that the most successful people in life are improvisers, not planners. You cannot plan everything out in advance.
When you make decisions, like living in Canada or Thailand, you cannot plan the decisions that you will have to make as a result. I am sure that you would have had a nice Canadian wife had you not move to Thailand - But the key is recognizing that you will be presented with a whole new set of circumstances that you then must react to.
Bloom where you are planted - You will be improvising no matter where you happen to fall. Sounds like you are already good at that though.
Happy Valentines Day!
Thank you very much for your meaningful comment @soleil-research.
I'm convinced that your life takes it course on the choices that you make. Sometimes your not free to choose thats what I call faith/destiny... Do you have to bow for that..no I don't think so. And for me, love is something ment to be comming on your path... And I can see you had the right path (me too actually) ... You have a beautiful wife and daughter. Have a great day !!!
Thank you very much @verhp11 for your nice comment.
Decision making is the toughest work in the world. Some times a wrong decision makes war. In my life, now i can realize if i could travel in the past i would change some decision i took. If i could my life would be much better. So decision making in time is necessary.
Thank you @shameem007 for your comment. You never know if the other choice would have been better, it could have been worse.
inspiring post, i am happy that your choices have brought you to this beautiful reality...i will add that, sometimes in the grand scheme of things its possible that a person can experience the same outcome by making non-identical choices; however in my own opinion to achieve that kind of outcome most times would require the intervention of the Divine!
Thank you @fqtee for your interesting comment.
Fascinating story..... Every day we make choices that will affect our future....interesting to think that one important decision will have a lasting effect into the future....
Thank you @creativo, I'm glad you like it.
Yeah, it was a great post. Thank you for sharing it with us =)
Yes, even the tiniest choices and decisions we make can have a great effect in our present and future.
One thing that I learn in making decisions, even if that decision ends up messing with your life we should embrace it. We all know that we couldn't turn back the time and alter those decisions so we should accept our mistakes and keep on moving forward.
Thank you @coderzairos for your comment and I agree with you.
Staying positive is one of the most important things you can do. It looks like you have a fantastic mindset, and to that I applaud you and what your trying to do here =) Another enjoyable read and thank you for the pictures! They're beautiful!
Thank you @kleric-lod for your comment and I agree that positivity is very important in life because it attracts good things.
Life makes us take mysterious paths.
When have the will to go to the end of his dreams,
with often several choices available to us,
we get to have the life that we really chose,
although sometimes the roads are difficult to achieve.
I believe in destiny.
Seeing your path, you see that you made the right choice.
That it gives courage to others to go to the end of their dreams,
if they hesitate, go for it, live your choices!
You have a wonderful family.
See you later
Thank you very much for your kind comment @archeothot and I agree that choices must be motivated by dreams you have in life.
Kudos to you for your intellectual work@gmichillbbk, an individual choice in life goes in a long way to explain what someone is made because your chioce navigate your decision and your decision plan a significant role in the life of an individual..... A woman who marry a wrong man or person i will say i made a wrong choice because of the long time effect of her decision or choice. A choice can be rational or irrational. But the scenerio in the world or challenges can cause a dilemma that only a rational person can cope in such a situation. Our choicebis retroactive in nature, so let make a good choice or decision to take advantage of the future
Thank you very much @pipiro for your meaningful comment.
Thanks for sharing your experience and reflections. I have also thought something along those lines and also almost chose Canada once. It took a few experiences to realise the love I had for the Canadian boy was not enough to keep me there so I hopped onto a passing log truck to take me eventually back to the airport and out of that vast, snowy country! I think some people have fewer choices, and lets be thankful we get to choose where we put our energy and who we share our lives with. I don't think it is all planned and written. We have a choice at every moment and the intention and positive state of mind will determine a better outcome. I think there are certain souls we are meant to meet, whichever point on the globe we are and physical distances are becoming less of a barrier these days. I think there is such a thing as soul groups and people attract these eternal companions for lessons or growth over lifetimes. Anything is possible! Wishing you and your family well!
Thank you @evebelieve for sharing your experience and thoughts with us.
Life is really difficult and not easy. It has many exams and perhaps the most difficult is the choice between two things or more.
I lived a phase in my life in which I took the test of choosing a life partner.
I was between two options, the first choice is my love and I love and love and all I wish, and the second is that I chose a woman I knew only from afar.Know you are wondering what optional you expect ?! .
Sagipek. I have chosen my second and left the first important in my life, because at that time I had many conditions and mental control over my heart.After my second choice, I am now married and have two children, and I live a happy and beautiful life, but sometimes that feeling of nostalgia and sorrow comes.
Sometimes I wish I could turn back time and choose my love for a life that may be better.
But I know that the train I missed and can not return, and lost everything behind me, now I can not lose my family.
I know you feel and understand me.
I think your choice is stability. It's very difficult, but if you were your place to choose my family first of all.
I wish you a happy life Good luck my dear brother @gmichelbkk
Thank you for sharing your experience here with us in the comments @walid.larbi. We must be content with the life that we have now as therecis no way to know how it would have been differently.
Thank you my dear brother @gmichelbkk for all his advice and support. I wish you with all my heart a happy life and a remarkable success
Me and my girlfriend dated for two weeks before we got pregnant, so I know the power of one choice! The amount of growth that has come about from the challenging situation has been massive though, I feel like I really grew up. We are going to be moving in about two years so have been shopping around locations.
PS. I really really really wanna at least visit thailand, mostly because of the food, otherwise because of the weather and interest in the culture
Thank you @jakeybrown for your comment and I wish you to visit Thailand.
amazing love story
Thank you very much @yansyah03 fir commenting.
You are welcome
I've pondered the same question. I'm pretty much in the fate and destiny camp modified by karma and past lives. I'm also influenced by Buddhist thought, though I am not a Buddhist. I refer to myself as " a fool of an almost Buddhist". I look back at my life and get the distinct feeling that all was meant to be. I've looked back and the smallest decisions changed everything and propelled me on a path that led me here, today, this very moment. I ponder too, that I am the person who is come from 10,000 lives all of which made me what I am today. Every decision they made, determines who I am! Blessings.
Thank you very much @mistermercury for your interesting comment.
Worth reading...
I think to make a decision at right time is very necessary as time is very precious and the only thing permanent in life is change
So we must be confident and happy on our decision
Stay blessed and happy
Thank you @fajarabbasi for commenting here.
You are welcome
Everything happens in our life for a reason. And wherever the destiny takes us, it is for our own good, sooner or later we realise it.
So cherish what you have and don't think much about what would have happen otherwise. :)
Thank you for your comment @event-horizon. I agree.
We always have a choice. What we choose that might change our entire life. Choose what you really want in life! Thank you @gmichelbkk for sharing your life story!
Thank you @rezoanulvibes for your comment.
I don't really know that the concept of fate seems to make a lot of sense in the manner in which it is commonly 'understood'. I tend to align with the notion that we have a large part in creating our reality, even if unconsciously.
So here's a mind bender... could there be another you in another timeline/reality that did move to Canada and is living out that experience at the same time you are living out your present reality? :)
You have a beautiful family. :)
That's an advantage of having a twin brother. One could have gone there and at the end we compare results! Thank you very much for your nice comment @erinn. I am calling to everyone who see my other me in Canada to let me know!
I usually hold this view that we are a product of our choices, different things in our lives wouldn't be possible if we didn't make a choice to go that path
So making good choices matters even if we're sometimes faced with the difficulty of ascertaining which is good or bad
Nice post @gmichelbkk, thanks for sharing
I appreciate your comment @estherikott. Thank you for sharing your views.
I'm curious, what led you to contemplate this issue now, thinking 'what if'? Has something happened recently in your life that led you to have this philosophical thoughts? 🤔
Thank you @nomad-magus for commenting. Nothing happened, I am happy with the choices I made and the life I have today.
I was asking because sometimes there are glitches, meaning our counterparts, which are other aspects, other selves of us, send a probe to us, to check out "what if". Mostly it's done not for mere curiosity's sake but for inspiration. Thanks for sharing 👍
Thank you.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@ziaul/si-amang
Thank you for sharing your link here.
Decision making can be scary when there are your loved ones around you that would strongly influence you in what is the best/right think to do. And being me, you would feel terrible if you hurt them. But when I turned 30 I realized that no matter what I do they aren't satisfied. No win-win situation guided me through few sessions and in the few years I changed my life and become a terrible daughter 😎. I married the love of my life who was my highschool sweetheart and now we are traveling. I've never been happier and never been so scared 😆.
I really enjoyed reading your post. It is so inspiring that I just had to share part of my story. There is more on our blog 😉😎
Thank you very much @wnfdiary for sharing with us here and reading the post.
Love doesn't depend on color, money and education and specific place. Love is pure love. There is no interest in love. Love is not for specific person, love is for all. Come on friends we spread out our love to all over the world.
Your post is very facinating for us. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you @jareen61 for commenting here.
Wow... this story is so deep. When reading a half of the article, I didn't realize that your story ending would be so epic. Decision that lead to a love story.
Honestly, I was thinking this post merely talking about decision between living in Canada and Thailand.
I wish you, your wife and your daughter will always be a lovely family.
Thank you very much @betterperson for your nice comment.
Hermosa historia y bellisima tu familia que Dios los continue bendiciendo cada dia mas te felicito por tus post cada vez mas interesates exitos @gmichelbkk
Thank you very much @karla01.
Félicitations pour la petite famille! Les décisions que nous prenons font de nous ce que nous sommes. Il est malheureusement impossible de savoir ce qu'aurait devenu notre vie si on aurait fait de différents choix. Je crois qu'il faut surtout apprécier les bons choix que nous faisons et tirer profit des différentes expériences de vie qu'ils nous apprennent.
Merci beaucoup @yanhunter pour votre commentaire que j'apprécie.
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