I am not immune to the YouTube algorithm rabbit hole. While I do my best to get out of it when being sucked down, there’s been some great gems.

One shining gem was the discovery of a channel dedicated to the big philosophical questions of life.

Of the many wonderful videos on there, this one I’ve visited numerous times and show to my students every year.

In summary: if you had a big life decision before you and couldn’t decide the best course of action, would seeing the outcome of each decision be helpful?

Spoiler alert—the video ends on an ambiguous note.

It does, however, bring peace to the decisions I’ve made and put away anxieties of “What if?” The truth you come to understand is that every decision opens an array of branches that stretch out for eternity.

This is true for good choices (“I have two good options in front of me”) and bad (“I know this is bad, but where will it lead?”).

A bad decision will (almost) always end in a bad place and a good one will (usually) get you somewhere better. Never perfect.

No decision will ever lead to a perfect place and we may never be fully happy with each one, but the branches of each decision are too complex to regret the ones that are made.

The only regret you can have is not making one for yourself.