Depressed by the dull weather recently, I became demotivated, tired, and definitely not nice to live with.
This manifested itself as the ‘What If Blues’.
It’s a dangerous phrase often leading to introspection and dissatisfaction with yourself.
Who hasn’t asked themselves “What if I had studied harder at school?”
“What if I had exercised more?”
“What if I had never smoked or drank?”
I spent an afternoon beating myself up over such questions.
The imponderable is that had I done things differently, life might have remained as it has or taken a completely different direction. I will never know!
Perhaps with more applied effort at school, I could have achieved decent exam results, gone to college or university and discovered a cure for the Earth’s ills!
Maybe my health would have been better without the nicotine, calories, UPFs and other self-inflicted abuses I put it through!
Had I known about the benefits of saving and investing and been prepared to weather the financial ups and downs, perhaps I could have bought my dream car (a Silverado truck if anyone is feeling generous), a house with a pool and a cinema room and lots of cats!
It is the realisation that much of our future is tied to our past, and yet we are so ill equipped when younger, to envision how our lives could have been.
As far as I know, I never learnt anything from school about Real Life skills. Not a word was uttered about applying for a mortgage, filling in any type of application form, interview techniques or how to keep to a budget or change a tyre; and I still haven’t found a use for algebra since leaving school!
At school, I was advised not to try journalism, as it wasn’t a ‘safe’ profession. Usually, women were expected to enter teaching, nursing or the secretarial world; little thought was given to teaching life skills, such as money management or career progression.
I believe students are expected to make such decisions as options and courses for future employment at too early an age. I have friends with qualifications completely at odds with their eventual profession. An early desire to teach, abandoned to work in the theatre; a career as a police officer given up to open a landscaping service.
I assume today’s curriculum encompasses life skills with more relevance than in my day.
The other unanswerable question is ‘what if I’d achieved my early goals?’.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and completely useless. It is sometimes too late to change.
I asked myself several questions when writing this, and my answers surprised me.
What if I’d learnt fiscal responsibility instead of spending money on records and magazines? This is a no brainer! I wouldn’t have missed the 1970s music scene for anything!
What if I’d studied harder and gone to university? I wish I had studied harder at school. Secretarial college was my only choice
What if I’d learnt shorthand as opposed to spending time hanging around Covent Garden? Another no brainer. Despite my attempts, shorthand remains a complete mystery to me, so why not venture out into the London of the early 1970s and soak up the social and cultural changes.
My final question is ‘what if I could change anything from those times?’. I decided I wouldn’t. I have good, kind friends, an varied employment past that taught me money isn’t everything, and a tangled web of memories that bring me joy.
They shaped the person I’ve become, and I’m quite happy with her, thank you.
Still wouldn’t mind a Silverado though!