ust think how many times you've used a sentence starting
with "What if" during your life. It's a lot, isn't it? Sometimes these
two words have to do with our regrets about the past, while sometimes
they're more focused on our future plans. But in any case, they never
leave our consciousness. We keep questioning, "what if...what if?" So, how can we clear this question from our minds?
Actually, I don't have a solution. Whenever I come up with one it fails,
like most other people's solutions do, suggesting that it's perhaps best
to leave everything to be solved by time.
But for a person who's in a little bit of a hurry to do
everything (like me--this week I'm even late submitting my column), it's
impossible to wait. I think that the most powerful tool for freeing
ourselves from this question is to get used to life's monotone routine
and not think about our worries. But sometimes, people want to get the answer to "what if."
Think: what if you had entered another university instead of Bilkent?
Your whole life would be completely different. Isn't that scary? Or,
what if you've chosen the wrong department to study in--your whole life
could be ruined by having made the wrong decision. And it would take a
very long time to fix things. When I even just think about the question "what if," I
start to lose my self-control. But I think I've solved the matter by
believing that serendipity has great power over our decisions. We have
alternatives, and we make the most convenient choice, but we don't know
its future consequences. Maybe we're rejecting the alternative that
would have had the most positive results. At this point, fate takes over,
and starts to
shape our lives. Sometimes the easiest way to answer the question of "what
if" is to
believe that your fate will shape your future, and you just have to work
hard to get the good things out of life. I choose to believe in this
option, which in reality frees your mind from thinking about this
question. So, have a good week, and a good kısmet.
Sıla Türkü Kural (EE/IV)
turku@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
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