When you stand on the shore and look out to the ghost ship of the choices you didn’t make…

Lots of them. Mostly for the best. Rejecting the offer from the publisher of the weekly newspaper I had worked for all through high school to forego college and come to work for him full-time, including the promise of half-ownership of the paper when he retired. (A doubly good-decision for getting an education and not being caught in the death spiral of print journalism.) Rejecting a couple of offers for moving up in the corporate ranks. (Selling out for money and power would have crashed my career, imho. I stayed where I was most effective and wound up getting both money & power, without the status titles.) Retiring early despite the fact that I was probably inline for a promotion whether I wanted it or not and I wasn't sure I was financially secure enough to survive. (I served as a consultant for 8 more years, making the same amount of money for less than half of the hours worked. More importantly, as my wife kept telling me, the reduction in stress kept me alive.)