knowing you did something about it

There are always those unmistakable moments when you take a pause in your life and you'd say, "I should have done it!". I think it's common for most of us because of mistakes we make and sometimes, the indecision that tends to hinder our decision making process.

Let me tell you about a real experience I had with a close friend of mine. For anonymity sake, let's call him Eric.

Couple of years back, Eric was battling out a business law suit that nearly shattered his business and his family. I knew Eric through my lawyer friend who was handling his case. I used to help out at a small law firm to earn a couple of bucks to add a bit more to my miserable bank account balance. And that's how I knew about Eric and his unfortunate law suit.

It was a tough 6 to 9 months for Eric and us, battling out the case. It was a tough case and and uphill one at that. The cases were against us, Eric dropped the ball at the early stages of the trial and due to the legal system here, the law was simply against him from almost all angles. To make matters worse, his was also battling out the prospects of a divorce with his wife who didn't think he stood a chance in surviving the law suit. Not very nice of his wife, if you ask me.

Anyway, we spent many weekends working the case out at the small legal firm premise, running through cases and cases and stacks of cases plus discussion with Eric to make sure we got the affidavit as concised as and as accurate as possible.

After all the tiring weekends and long hours of discussion, the case was heard by the judges, plenty of hours of debating facts and the law. Eventually, Eric won the case as the plaintiff could not prove that Eric indeed committed an act of criminal breach of trust. It was great! I mean Eric finally went back to business as usual, kept his marriage going, the firm won the case and I got my pocket money.

Through it all, I actually asked Eric what would he have done had he lost the case?

"Honestly, when we finally go to the hearing stages of my case, I wasn't certain what to make of it. I mean we came this far in preparing for the case and I'd be lying if I said I didn't hope to win the case. I guess, I already money set aside for the kids and my wife. If she insisted on a divorce, I doubt I could stop it from happening. Not everyone can live we being associated to a bankrupt with a CBT label over his forehead. But I don't think it's all about winning the case but deep down, I merely need to know that no matter the outcome, I can look myself in the mirror and firmly tell myself I knew I did something about it.

Having gone through this moment in my life, I can now honestly say that not matter what you decide to do, you just have to make a decision move on with the decision and never look back. Because some day, some where, you are bound to make decision that could change your life forever. And when that day comes, you want to be in a position know you did something about it irrespective of the outcome."