Forget Shoulda-Woulda-Coulda -

“But those woulda-coulda-shouldas all ran away and hid from one little Did.”

Shel Silverstein

Ah, if only that were always true, but sometimes it’s not.

“You shoulda done this.”

“I coulda done better.”

“I woulda if I had the time.”

Sound familiar? These statements usually pop up after someone has taken a risk to do something and stand by it. They like to point out the mistakes and the wasted possibilities.

But never you mind, do it anyway.

Here’s a little tale to show you what I mean:

One little Did stood up proud

Look what I made!

He said out loud.

But Shoulda didn’t like it

And Coulda stayed away

And Woulda made a rude gesture

I won’t repeat or say.

So one little Did

Tucked all his things aside

I’ll never do that again

He said before he cried.

And Shoulda-Woulda-Coulda danced with glee

Because they’d turned his dream

Into their effigy.

Another little Did stood up proud

Look what I made!

She said out loud

But she laughed when Shoulda didn’t like it

And Coulda stayed away

She shrugged when Woulda made a rude gesture

And went about her day.

They couldn’t understand her.

They couldn’t steal her joy.

So they found another Did

Whose dreams they could destroy.

Because this one little Did

Didn’t care about the buzz

She knew a person’s life

Is built on what she does.

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My latest non-fiction title, 10 Things to Forget: to be Creatively Free was a blast to write. On this blog, I’ve been writing on topics that didn’t make it into the book and others I’ve expanded on. You can read the other posts here.