"be the change you wish to see in the world"
Is our destiny predetermined, or do we shape our own fate? For the past two years, this had been Dominic’s query about himself and about life. And the more he pondered, the more he questioned; and the more he queried, the more he reflected.
Dominic was not a wealthy man, and although he was better off than a lot of people, he lived as if he weren’t. He worked as a consultant and engineer for a local organization dedicated to improving the water and sanitation infrastructure in Uganda for five years before moving to Ethiopia to do the same job. It was in Ethiopia where he met his future wife, a doctor volunteering in a local medical facility. They were married before the year ended and stayed in Ethiopia to continue their selfless work.
Now, five years later, Dominic asked himself: If I were to go back in time and do something else, would I have ended up in the same place?
He asked this not because he was unhappy with his life or his marriage. On the contrary, he was very happy and quite content. He only asked because years and years ago, long before he came to Africa he had encountered a major crossroad in his life, and the choice he made then had led to this particular place and circumstance. It was not out of discontent that he wondered about it, it was more out of curiosity because during that time at the crossroads, he had almost took the other path.
One evening, as Dominic lay in bed musing about the question, he fell into a deep sleep. When he woke up, he found himself back at that major crossroad in his life. This was his chance, his chance of finding out whether his life would’ve been different. After taking the path he had given up when he first ran into the crossroad, Dominic woke up again. This time it was for real, he was back in his bed. As he looked around his room, nothing was different. Everything was as it was before he had slumbered, including the picture of his wife and himself married by the chieftain of the local tribe in their locality.
He said loudly to himself, “It was only a dream.”
A moment later someone knocked on his door.
He quickly went to the door and opened it. It was the native girl his wife was training to help in the medical facility.
“Dr. D, you must come quickly. Two men had an accident and they’re in the emergency room right now,” the girl informed hurriedly.
Dominic doubtfully looked around the room and the empty hall. He blinked at the girl, unsure what to do or say.
“Doctor, you must come immediately,” the girl said again.
“My wife is not here,” Dominic replied.
“Your wife is asking for you at the emergency room, Doctor. She needs your help, Doctor.”
Dominic, still unsure, followed the girl down the hall. As he walked he kept on asking himself, why does she keep on calling me doctor? She has always called me Mr. D, not Dr. D. And that was when it hit him. The dream, the crossroad, the path he chose this time.
