Every time I said, "if" David immediately pointed it out repeating the word "if" reminding me I continued to talk hypothetically about general topics.
Stuck in "what ... if ..." is me wrapping my brain around scenarios for preparation sake.
With his every repeat of my words, I could only think of the hopelessly romantic scene on Letters to Juliet where Sophie is responding as Juliet to Claire, an older woman who walked away from love decades earlier, when her own "what ... if's" were holding her back from love.
Dear Claire, "What" and "If" are two words as non-threatening as words can be. But put them together side-by-side and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life: What if? What if? What if? I don't know how your story ended but if what you felt then was true love, then it's never too late. If it was true then, why wouldn't it be true now? You need only the courage to follow your heart. I don't know what a love like Juliet's feels like - love to leave loved ones for, love to cross oceans for but I'd like to believe if I ever were to feel it, that I will have the courage to seize it. And, Claire, if you didn't, I hope one day that you will. All my love, Juliet
What ... if ... can be a stronghold of the mind, analyzing countless situations we weigh potentially could happen. Letters to Juliet put it so romantically that these two words put together have the power to hold back in the battlefield of the mind.
Following your heart is always the safest choice versus living in the land of regrets and "what ... if's." There are no guarantees in life but the regret of what if when all is said and done and you didn't follow your heart.
So let your heart, sweet heart
Be your compass when you're lost
And you should follow it wherever it may go
When it's all said and done
You can walk instead of run
'Cause no matter what you'll never be alone
- "Compass" Lady Antebellum
