what might have been.......if

At certain times of our life we make certain choices and then we live through that choice. I used to wonder  what would have happened if I had made quite another choice.

After  I got my O level Exam results in 1956, I had the choice of studying in the  United kingdom, a State scholarship for a course in Political science at the University of Manchester. The then  Chief Minister of my State, Pahang, in British Malaya then , the late Tun Abdul Razak, told my father, who was then an unofficial member of the state legislative assembly in the same state, that if I graduate in that course I could one day be his political secretary. Neither my father nor me understood the significance of that offer at that time. Maybe my father knew, but he was not telling me because he knew Malaya would in the following year be gaining its independence from the British. He was so fearful of me being so far away alone in a foreign land. So with his insistence partly, I made the choice of doing my A level locally and enrolled myself at Form Six in a school in Seremban, not so far away from home. My father refused for me to go to the Victoria Instition in Kuala Lumpur fearful for me to stay in a boarding school ,  in a big city. So he arranged for me to stay at a family home of a friend of my grandfather in Seremban, disallowing me to stay in a hostel there.

What might have happened if I had made the other choice and studied in England, meeting different sets of people and experiencing a different life?

The other thing is that, from a  very personal reason, I  already had a boyfriend and we were regularly writing. We could still write from wherever. My  eldest uncle, who was serving as the State Secretary, was very keen for me to go. My family had always hoped that me and my eldest cousin would get engaged. He was already studying in Dublin. My father was not serious about it as we were first paternal cousins. Anyway, if I had gone to England, I may not end up married to my present husband.

So there it is , God has a way of Guiding us all  in our life's paths. So I have no regrets, none whatsoever. I am very grateful for what my life is now. I am going to spend every moment of the year 2009 feeling the utmost gratitude for all my life's Blessings from God.