The book I am reading is fictional, but the story revolves around one woman's experiences as the wife of a member of the German Resistance during WWII. I find myself drawn into the decisions made by so many Germans during the reign of the Nazis, and especially this elderly woman, who married the love of her life, only to lose him before their life together really began.
When I am upset and feeling sorry for myself, I often blame fate for my predicaments. However, as I read this book, I am more and more aware that it is most often our own decisions which lead us down one path or another -- and determine the eventual outcome of our lives.
Looking back, I realize that I made numerous decisions which, while well-intentioned, were obviously not the best. In hindsight, there are several life choices that I should have considered more carefully than I did. Sometimes, one wrong choice can impact the path our life takes in such a way that it is virtually impossible to change the forces that have been set in motion. We must move forward on the path we have chosen and make the best of things as they are.
Blaming fate is easy, yet taking responsibility for our own choices is difficult and sometimes heartbreaking. We do the best we can, but we must live with our decisions, and hope that our poor decisions do not create a ripple effect for our children and grandchildren. Life is not always fair; fate does throws us curves, but, ultimately, we make decisions and choices, and we must live with the consequences. Sometimes those consequences break our hearts and break our spirits, but, it is all "water under the bridge." We must move on and find happiness in the small things in our lives. We cannot change the past, we can only do our best to appreciate whatever good has resulted from the choices we made.
