Do you ever ask yourself "what if"? What are they always about

The "what ifs" I ask myself are: what if I were one of those children who doesn't have three meals or even one a day and my ribs could be counted easily half a mile away, what if my mind and soul were prey to people who wanted to brainwash me and make me use myself as a human bomb, what if my home were a ramshackle tent in some downtrodden place from where I would have to flee abruptly because others deemed I didn't belong there?

I ask myself these questions and then I know I am so lucky and privileged in my little life.

What are your "what ifs?"

I think most times, I ask myself questions like what if I had spoken up on sumthin? What if I had shown up? What if I chose to study?. My what ifs are mostly as a result of my inaction.

Don't waste time on those kinds of questions - they will just make you feel bad about yourself. The solution is to act when it is required of you, and act to the best of your ability. If you are unable to act at the moment it is required of you, that is alright too.

This is strange - I did not post my reply above on March 27, 2010 - I wrote way before then. This forum has been acting up recently, have you noticed?

What a weird avatar you have, Donmayor. Is it symbolic in that you feel trapped and are tying to find a way out, or it is just a fun thing? Let's hope it is the latter case.

Yeah trying not to waste my time on those kind of questions ...I'm now trying to ask what must I do?

On the issue with the forum, I carried out an upgrade on the forum but did not set it up properly. I think it's fixed now. Working to get people back1

My avatar is just a fun thing but come to think of it, I feel like the former.

What must you do in relation to what? I thought you had straightened out your path. I guess this also relates to the feeling of being trapped? What's going on?

I think as a man gets older he begins to set limits on what is possible based on his cumulative knowledge from the past yet he still sets lofty goals that may end up unrealized and haunt him in time to come. I have set those lofty goals but I don't want to look back in future and bemoan my present. So I ask what must I do.
With each ticking of the clock, I feel life passing by without my footprints being left on the sands of time. So again, I ask what must I do?

First, most of us never achieve all of our lofty goals.
Second, if you understand the above, you will stop being hard on yourself.
Third, you need to rearrange your goals and determine which ones are really viable based on your time and resources. You need to prioritize.
Fourth, work hard at achieving the goals you have chosen. Give it your best try - if you don't, that's really when you will spend your life regretting and beating up on yourself.
Good Luck!

Really sound advice. I try to beat this into my head. I recently started making a list of things I want to achieve and I'm working on the simple ones to strike them off my list while striving to achieve the more difficult ones or work out a viable plan.

So, how many items are on your list?