Hmm...Okay, on second thought...maybe not.

It may be possible for some people to "find themselves", and in some sci-fi sort of way, it may be possible for one to find an alternate version of themselves.

For me, it happened in Florida last week. There I was strolling down the beach, my shirt unbuttoned, a breeze blowing through my hair as I slowly looked around at what the tide brought in...and what it brought in was thousands upon thousands of dead fish, compliments of a red tide...and I was picking them up, one after the other, and putting them in a big bin I was dragging along with me.

What? Wait a second, that's not me! That's the ALTERNATE me...that's what I COULD have been...the real me is sitting on a third floor balcony of a very nice condo, WATCHING the other me. I sat there, sipping my drink, discussing investment real estate with another vacationer, trying to decide the break-even point on buying a condo to rent out, all the while eyeing the man on the beach.

I had seen him before, and a few others like him. They were old. They might not have been more than 40 or 50, but they were old for their years....their skin was dark and very wrinkled. Their hair long and grizzled, and with much grey. Their clothes spoke volumes, it spoke of years of usage and neglect. I wondered what their story was, did they quit school to live the life of a beach bum? Did they find themselves swallowed up with condos and resort hotels? Are they now living the only life they've trained themselves for? Did they lose that special girl they loved so much in their youth, because she wanted someone more responsible, someone who could provide for her and their kids?

I remember once hearing a teacher say that maturity is when you think of the future and not just the present. When you plan for tomorrow, when you give up good times right now so that you will be better off later. There's a lot of ways to say it but the meaning is the same.

And I'm sure the good readers of this post know where this is going. And there's no need to drag it out. Needless to say, we all make choices in life....who can ever say what a right choice is, or a wrong choice.

For me, I might have enjoyed the beach bum life, and it might have been fun for a while. But eventually I would have had to give it up, lest I become the alternate me, picking up dead fish on the beach for a living.