The Untaken Path: Why Every Choice Enriches Us
Introduction: The Infinite Branches of Life’s Choices
Life is always about making choices, taking options, and by definition renouncing other options. Options are taken either voluntarily and deliberately, opportunistically, or circumstantially. If our life is a tree, options are the many branches of that tree. We are the sum of all the branches grown or to be grown. The whole point of this article is to explore why growing a specific branch doesn’t mean the other branches must be completely forgone and forgotten — in other words, why in most cases, choosing is not necessarily renouncing. As heartbreaking as it is to make a life-changing choice, we can also let the other branches come into our lives to inspire it, and sometimes have a moment of reflection to look at them.
Understanding Life’s Crossroads
Studying medicine for most people means renouncing being an engineer, and moving from the US to Europe means forgoing an opportunity to live in Japan or to hang out as much with your family and childhood friends. People take a given option either because it fulfills a long-term goal they are working towards, a good opportunity they wouldn’t have anticipated presented itself (e.g., following a partner abroad, meeting somebody that inspires a career change), or…
