The gamble of our lives

“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen” - Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

There are those amongst us who gamble their decades in pursuit of what could be at the expense of what is; they give up time with family, friends, and forego worldly experiences. They hope that "there are weeks where decades happen" to earn back their lost time and some. But the harsh truth is that Lenin's quote in its reduced form is also true: "There are decades where nothing happens".

Was the gamble worth it then?

I believe the answer lies in what is worse, the regret of missing out on what you knew was possible, whose contours were readily visible to your eyes, or the regret of never knowing what lay beyond that?

Some would say the latter is worse; the former's loss is known and quantifiable; there is no what if. But the latter's is ambiguous; the what ifs are haunting. Others would say that knowing exactly what you lost makes the pain more real; speculative loss is not.

We ought to think about where we stand on these regrets.

One day we will be forced to answer for our gamble.