The Point of No Return

An interesting "What if?"

A “point of no return” can be a hard and fast reality rather than a symbol. It happens, for example, when a car that has 100 miles-worth of gas in the tank travels 51 miles in a straight line away from home. They literally can’t go home again if they can’t buy more fuel.

We don’t think about these literal points of no return very often (fortunately boat and airplane pilots do). Mostly, we talk about a point of no return as a symbol or metaphor when we’ve figuratively reached a decision point — when we have to evaluate what hurts worse: continuing an action, or changing our mind.

There have been times in history when a leader forced a decision on their followers (or soldiers). A commonly cited event was when Hernan Cortes had his ships scuttled, so the soldiers knew there was no option other than advancing in Mexico. “Burn the boats!” continues to be a motivation tactic.

Pushing Through

When we are experiencing hard times, sometimes we have to decide between giving up or pushing through. Robert Frost, in the poem A Servant to Servants, has a character say, “…the best way out is always through.” This idea informs my “what if…”

What if…

What if we viewed every moment as a “point of no return”? What if we kept facing forward even when the rain stings our faces? I can’t remember where I read it, but I’ve always liked the aphorism “It’s ok to look at the past, just don’t stare.”

Certainly the past can inform the future, but another favorite saying is “The past does not equal the future.” It has more punch when stated personally: “Your past does not equal your future.” But it’s easy to get bogged down in our past, isn’t it?

So, this is the “what if” that I’m pondering now. What does the thought of each moment as a point of no return mean to you? Does it sound positive or negative? I’d love to read some comments about this. Share your insights, will you?

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