If I had only known. I wonder how many times those words are said or thought.

If Melissa Rivers had known her mother’s appointment for throat surgery would lead to a funeral she would have tried to bar the door to the doctor. If Derek Boogaard’s brother had known the pills he gave to his brother would lead to his death, I’d bet the lottery he would’ve held them back. If anyone who accidentally started a fire in a house or ditch or forest had known what would happen, they would have taken more care. If you knew this was the last day of a loved one’s life, nine out of ten of you would spend time with them.

If you had known a refund check from the insurance company would be in today’s mail, your step would be a little lighter on your way to that oblong box. If you would have known a favorite neighbor would drop by for a chat, you might have made some cookies. If an old friend of mine had known her choice of a husband would lead to a really profitable business, well – okay, she would have married him without a clue about the future, which she did. Which we all do.

Sometimes we see the consequences of our actions and words. There are times, though, we will never know what happens because of something we say or do. And despite our grasp of history or what is typical or usual, things can turn on a dime and surprise us. That is why “if I had only known” will always be a familiar phrase. Sometimes the unexpected can be brutal, but it’s a mercy we don’t know some things ahead of time. It’s good that life is like it is: lots of educated guesses with surprises thrown in for adventure.

Hey – have a great day, do your best to muddle along the best you can, enjoy the good surprises, know that the troubling times will pass just as everything eventually does, and if you get to the corner before the rest of us and manage to peek around it, give us a heads up because we might benefit from knowing.

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