I turn 60 this year. Some people call that a milestone. Some people claim life is almost over (usually those under the age of 30). Others believe real life is just getting started (those over the age of 65). I say it is a great time for reflection and evaluation to see where I have been and where and how I want to end up in all categories of my life – physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

In a moment of reflection, I think about decisions that I made over the years and how, at the time, those decisions just didn’t seem all that important. Yet, those decisions got me to where I am today. I cannot go back in time and change those decisions and, frankly, have no way of knowing how life would have turned out differently if I could change them.

Clearly, there are some important decisions throughout life that are monumental when people’s lives will change as they know it. We deliberately make those decisions knowing things will change. Getting married after years of being single or having children after years of just tending to dogs and cats are examples of decisions that alter or impact our lives. We do not often think about those little forks in the road, however; those decisions that occur daily and sometimes so often we just don’t give them a second thought.

For example, while in college, I became an Emergency Medical Technician because I had been a First Aid Responder and thought it would be interesting. After 22 years, including 15 of those as an Instructor and Advanced Life Support-certified, I have been a volunteer on hundreds of calls to help people in need, trained thousands of other EMTs to carry on with life-saving responses and skills, and continue to utilize the knowledge and skill sets today. It is hard to think about not doing that, but it all started on a whim that opened numerous doors for my career path and provided experiences with people that I will never forget.

The college I decided to attend and the major I chose to pursue forged experiences and memories that cannot be replaced. But what if I had chosen a different school? What if I had chosen a different major at a different school? Where would I be today? My choices were not bad, but I sometimes wonder how different my life would be if I changed just that one decision.

On my career path, what if I had chosen to stay at one place for 30 years rather than continue to change companies and build my experience? I would now be retired rather than continuing to count the days to when I am able to retire. Again, that was a decision I made one day that seemed right at the time but ultimately changed my entire course.

Each fork in the road slightly changes our life path. Choose wisely because your decisions do make a difference.