The Difference Between Those That Are Good and Those That Are Great

Ah regret. "It seemed like a good idea at the time"... a common phrase uttered from my lips these days. Like I said, I always wanted to go back and read what would happen if I took another path. I find myself wondering that a bit these days. What if...... What if I didn't take this internship? What if I hadn't chosen to get a lease? What if I had just driven my car out here with my stuff in the first place? What if I made the wrong choice in coming to Chicago? What if I took to big a risk this time? What if....lots of what ifs....unfortunately life isn't like a choose your own adventure book in this way. I will never know.
I think the end of the books say it perfectly, "You have committed to a life journey under the sea, now look into becoming an underwater architect." You have committed to your journey, now make the best of it. Don't get me wrong-I am happy to be in Chicago....but I think I am continually learning this lesson. What if is only productive when referring to the future.
It reminds me of something I heard from the BYU women's head coach, Coach Manning. I was running conditioning drills at the BYU tennis camps when Coach Manning stopped by and had everyone make a line. He asked the five fastest runners to step up to the line. He then told them to run to the cone and back as fast as they could. Well, each runner did something different at the line, whether it was taking a step backward, stalling, or stutter stepping. He then told everyone to watch their feet while they did it again. Same thing happened. He then had me (fortunately this turned out alright) step up to the line with everyone watching my feet. He yelled go and I made a clean start (luckily). He then said something remarkably profound to everyone, "The difference between those that are good and those that are great is in their footwork. When you hesitate, or take extra steps, that's time and energy you don't have." He just meant tennis....but it meant so much more to me! So that's what it comes down to with regret-just a waste.