Do you ever wonder about who you would have been if you had not become who you are?
If you’d chosen differently at pivotal moments … If you look back at all the decisions you made that shaped you into who you are now … and made the other choice? The degree you didn’t pursue. The person you loved and let go. The job you turned down. The dream you packed away because suddenly life demanded more. The version of yourself you quietly buried so that this version could rise.
We all carry with us a collection of unlived lives. Entire versions of ourselves tucked away in the folds of time — not forgotten, just … unexplored. At some point in life, I think we all look back and wonder, What if? And briefly mourn those paths not taken.
But I don’t think it’s fair look at them as regrets – I think we should see them as reminders… that we were always capable of more than we believed. That the desire to become still shines within us, even if it flickers instead of burns.
Because the truth is: life is not a straight line. It’s a winding, holy mess of hard choices and decisions … and a lot of divine providence – even if we didn’t see it at the time. And maybe the version of you reading this isn’t the one you once dreamed of becoming. But I bet you’re wiser. Softer. Rooted in things that matter more deeply than ambition ever could. Maybe you didn’t chase that big time-consuming career or pursue that degree – but now you have dirt under your nails, worn out boots, steady love, a lap full of kids and a life full of so much more than you originally dreamed. Maybe you traded glamor for grit. Applause for purpose. Fast for faithful.
So go ahead – Glance back for a moment and honor the lives you didn’t live. But don’t grieve them or let them make you bitter. Let them remind you just how many versions of you were always possible – and how beautiful it is that this is the life you chose to grow.
… And it’s never too late to keep growing. To keep becoming.
– Mackenzie Free –
Wife, mother, photographer & current resident of the unassumingly magical town of Steele, Alabama
