Looking back in your life when you had to make a decision, for better or worse, it irreversibly altered the course of your life. People usually ask what if it didn’t happen, what if another road had been taken. What would my life be like? The movie Sliding Doors tells us a story about the influence of minor action on Helen’s destiny.
Helen tried to catch a train back home after she was fired. Here the movie showed the audiences two scenarios. One was that Helen got on the train in time. When she was home, she caught her boyfriend Jerry having an affair. She left him and started a new life. She established her own business and fell in love with James. However, Helen was killed in a traffic accident right after she found that James was married.
In a parallel story, Helen missed the train and had to take a cab. When she arrived home, Jerry’s lover had left. Although Helen figured out something happening about Jerry gradually, she still loved him and lived with him. After learning about Jerry’s lover became pregnant, Helen finally left him. Dramatically, the director arranged James in the first scenario to meet Helen at the very end of the movie, leaving the audiences to speculate the possible outcome of their meeting.
Watching the movie, I could not resist asking myself: What if James was a single? What if Helen had a big heart and forgave Jerry? And what if Jerry stopped cheating on her? Would they live happily ever after? There are many what ifs. However, life is not a drama and can not be split as shown in the movie. One has to make a decision based on his own judgment when there is a fork in his life course. What happened has gone forever. Nothing could change the fact. None of us could predict what will happen in the future either. It is useless to cry over split milk. Do not blame the pre-life or count on the afterlife. Just face what is happening now and cherish, enjoy and appreciate what you experience in your current life course.
