“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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“Forget Shoulda-Woulda-Coulda” copyright © 2016 Dara Girard; Image copyright © 2016 by 123rf
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.