Staging Scenarios

From the time I was a child, I can remember imagining scenes in my head of what I might say or do or what someone else might say or do in a particular circum-stance. Sometimes it was just for fun. At other times, I was working through a problem with a relationship or situation.  When I moved to a different locale in rural MO we girls wrote plays at school (5^th or 6^th grade) and acted them out at recess time (I think). That mental scene writing continued sporadically into adulthood.

At this stage of my life, my advice regarding staging scenarios is: Don’t do it—unless you are writing a book, a play, or possibly a song.

What if. What might have been. What was. What is.

Obviously, we can’t do anything about what is past and we can’t predict the future. Planning for the future is fine, but a flexible mindset is necessary because life just might not happen the way you had hoped.

Here is a rundown on our “what’s. What might have been: We had our retirement planned out so perfectly. I would continue teaching music in my home studio and write books. Dean would renovate  our home and we would take trips with Builders for Christ and Habitat for Humanity.

What was:  Decent health

What is: My vision has decreased to 20/80 in one eye and 20/200 or worse in the other. Dean has GERD, COPD, arthritis, and lung cancer

What if: That’s a Pandora’s box I’ve learned not to open. “What if” scenarios are totally futile and in my case, wholly negative.

Returning to what is. I can still see to read and write with magnifiers and even drive familiar routes around town (no more interstate trips, however, with me as the driver). Dean can still function as a deacon at church and a Gideon. We can both be prayer warriors for others in need of that precious gift from God.

So when your “what might have been” doesn’t line up with your “what is,” don’t be discouraged. Embrace the “what is.” As long as you are breathing, God hasn’t finished with the work He has ordained for you. Just remember to stay away from the “what ifs.”