Filthy Casual for Life

Random Thoughts: A Pivotal Moment

ChibiChonk
2–3 minutes
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What if you made a different pivotal decision in your past? Which decision would have changed the course of your life?

CAVEAT: This is a hypothetical and speculation. It is NOT a representation of what I wish my life could be like.

When I think about this question, there is one clear moment that comes to mind. The pivotal moment in my life is the moment I decided to join the US Army Band.

What other path would you have taken? Instead of going into the military, I would have taken a gap year and then enrolled in university.

How would that decision alter the course of your life? I think it would have given me time to grow naturally as a person. Going straight into the military, immediately getting married, and immediately having a child forced me to grow up a lot faster than I probably needed to.

Would you have married? Yes. I think I would still marry.

Would you have had children? No. At that point in my life, I did not want to have children.

What would your future in this new path look like? I would have majored in music and would have quickly found out that I didn’t have what it takes to be a band director. While I was passionate about music, I was not passionate about kids. I think I would have tried to be a performance major. Maybe work my way up to a master’s degree. I’m not sure I had the talent to go that far, but I would have definitely tried. If teaching was in my cards, I would either privately teach or try to teach at the collegiate level.

That being said, there were a few events that happened my senior year that really made me second-guess my music career. In part, it is the reason why I skipped university altogether to go into the Army Band. My love for music was tarnished and I was really questioning my abilities. I think had I taken a gap year, I might have also decided to leave music behind. I think I might have chosen a medical path.

How about you? Is there a clear-cut decision that would have altered your life?

6 responses to “Random Thoughts: A Pivotal Moment”

  1. Lynn Avatar
    Lynn

    It’s not a huge thing, but when I was in middle school, the school wanted to introduce German as a new subject. As such, they needed students to agree to take it. Most of my friends signed up, so I did, thinking nothing of it. Then, after one year of German they told me that there was a schedule conflict and I wouldn’t be able to do Art any more. Since I wanted to be an architect at that point, I argued that I should be able to drop German. They wouldn’t let me. So, I had to do Art in my own time after school, however, I missed all the lessons so I was completely unprepared for high school Art and ended up going a different route. That was the point where I made a real break from listening to what my peers were doing. I wish I had been confident enough to go it alone before then. I hated French so taking German too was a ridiculous idea in retrospect, even before I consider what it cost me going forward.

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. The Filthy Casual Avatar
      The Filthy Casual

      That sucks you weren’t able to drop German. Peer influence can be a terrible thing when you’re young. I have my fair share of times I wish I marched to my own beat.

      Liked by 3 people

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  2. momomanamu Avatar
    momomanamu

    Hmm, just out of university, I had the opportunity to go to Japan for 3 years and teach English, but at the time my parents had all sorts of health issues and none of my other siblings were very close to where my parents lived, and I was just so worried about leaving them alone. I was also really worried about living on my own for the first time, and I would be in a foreign country, and I didn’t know the language very well. I had so many worries at the time, that I decided to not go. Now that I can think back, I realize that things weren’t quite as dire as I thought they were, and I should have gone. I mean, my parents did have health issues, but they were also adults and capable of taking care of themselves. And yes, it would be the first time I would be living on my own, and yes it was in another country, but the teacher program I would be in would take care of most of the technical stuff like finding housing, transportation, ect. That was definitely a case of me letting my worries get the better of me.

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. The Filthy Casual Avatar
      The Filthy Casual

      I wish I had known about those programs to teach English in other countries. I’d like to think I would have gone, but I also think I might have found reasons not to.

      Liked by 2 people

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  3. Princess Himari Avatar
    Princess Himari

    That’s so interesting and honest. I think music can still hold a special place in your life if you want it to ❤️ For me, I should have loved myself more earlier in life. That would have changed a lot of things!

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. The Filthy Casual Avatar
      The Filthy Casual

      I wish I loved myself a lot more earlier in life, too.

      Liked by 2 people

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