ALEA ACTA EST - Read my comment for the actual question.

Caesar had the opinion that the senate was nothing but a bunch of fools only arguing over their own interests rather than the interest of Rome. Therefore he desired to end the republic and to be a king again, and being the most successful army leader he could count on the support of many, since army leaders had officially not more power than politicians, but in reality they had.

The Senate did not want that to happen. After all the Romans swore never to allow a king again. This is when they hired an other general, Pompey to stop Caesar and deny him access to Rome. At the river Rubicon, Caesar decided to attack Pompey's troops and by doing so he violated one of the highest laws of the Roman Republic, and Caesar knew the consequences would be severe.

This is when he pronounced the legendary words "ALEA IACTA EST", meaning "THE DIE HAS BEEN CAST". In other words, there is no way back now, I'll have to face the consequences of my actions, regardless of their motivation, and nobody can tell what the outcome will be...

Now for the Think Thank there is this question. I doubt yours will be as big as Ceasar's (or did you actually lead an army about to attack another army of your own nation?), but did you ever have your own ALEA IACTA EST moment. A moment in which you were doing something you knew you had to do, but of which you knew the consequences could also be pretty bad for you, but that you knew you had to risk is, as there was no way back now?

Isn't all of life like this? You make decisions and you don't look back. 🤔 At least... mine is. You can't take back your actions because they already happened - that's what being an adult means. I believe in a linear model of time - there is no going back. Basically, the dies keep on being cast and there are no rerolls.

True to a certain context. However, when you turn left on a crosspoint where you normally go right, it's mostly not going to have big consequences. Or deciding to take strawberry ice cream in stead of vanilla is also not a big decision, is it?

My own ALEA IACTA EST moment came when I decided to break all contact with my parents. I knew there was no way back for me then, but at that moment I knew that not doing that was not an option, but I really wasn't sure at the time the outcome would be right. THAT is something bigger than just the question what to eat this evening. It's these kinds of decisions, I'm talking about.

Well, it was also those kind of decisions I had in mind. I've had my fair share of moments like that as well. It's just never only one big decision that changes everything.

I always say: "You can't change the wind - but you can choose how you set your sails." Maybe I could add on to it with "...and act like where you end up is where you were planning to go all along."

😉

Funny you should ask...

I've had some recently and I might have way more in the near future but that depends

My whole life after high school has been a series of ALEA IACTA ESTs. The first one being shortly after graduation. The right thing to do, at the time, was to simply go to college. In other words, follow the plan my parents had laid out for me. Instead, I chose to pursue my own ambitions so I packed some clothes in a bag, grabbed my guitar and took off one morning without telling my family about it. I don't think I even had $10 on me. It was scary and thrilling at the same time.

Now that sounds like a real ALEA IACTA EST moment... And were the dice nice on you? I mean, did this decision work out for the better?

The dice were mostly good to me. It took about three months before my parents finally tracked me down. In the meantime, I'd found a work crew that took me in. Worked in agriculture cleaning fields. Lived in a shack that was still standing by some miracle. Worked 16 hour days. Saved up about $4k in that short time. I was working cleaning a field when one if my mom's cousins showed up and told me he was taking me back home. Didn't give me a choice. He'd found out where I lived and already had my things packed. I'm from the tip of Texas and wound up working the agricultural circuit between Arkansas and Missouri. I asked my cousin what the urgency was. Said I was starting college that Monday. Told him I never enrolled. He told me my high school guidance counselor did.

So in the end you still ended up the path your parents set for you. Still making $4k in a short time when starting with only 10 bucks is quite a way to go.

Lol. Yes and no. I went to college briefly. Studied music while also playing in heavy metal bands. Then the first gulf war happened and I rolled the dice, again. Without telling anyone I enlisted. Got deployed to the Persian Gulf twice.

Well, at least you made sure your cousin couldn't force you back that time, but enlisting for a war, is serious business. Now when you say "Gulf War", you mean the war about Saddam Hussein occupying Kuwait , right? Just to make sure I am thinking about the correct war. How did you family take it when you came back from the war?

Yes. That war.

My family took it well, I think. My brother and sister wound up enlisting, too, which really surprised me. My friends were freaked out because it came out of left field for them. Totally blindsided. Lost a few because they felt they didn't really know me and therefore couldn't trust me. Tried to explain to them that it was my choice to make and I didn't need permission from anyone on how to live my life. At the time, I felt that if I'd told them they'd try to talk me out of it. They felt I didn't have confidence in them as friends and were offended and hurt that I left the way I did and had no consideration for their feelings.

Well, going into a war is not nothing you do lightly. I hope you did take the possibility into account that you could have gotten yourself killed there. Perhaps they were angry as you may have stressed the hell out of them without telling them. Just a wild guess since I didn't hear their rants... But indeed, the choice was yours to make. I do remember that war, but first of all I am not from the U.S., plus I was too young to enlist at the time (and probably wouldn't have done so anyway. I don't have the stomach for war to be honest), but I do remember that tanks were all over the city when I was cycling to school each morning, especially around the entrance of a military base I always came past, which was quite a threatening sight, as I was old enough to realize what was going on. When the war began I remember the paper that morning It only had two words in extremely large letters on the front page "OORLOG BEGONNEN", which means "War has begun" in Dutch. The paper made no bones about that event, I tell ya. They also used a pretty thick font for that headline too, which was for the paper in question VERY unusual.

In the end you are right. Going into that war was your decision and you didn't need their permission. I hope despite war being a terrible thing, and losing friends over it, you did gain something good from it too.

I did get a lot of good out of it. I got to see a big chunk of the world and experience lots of different people, cultures, and attitudes about life. In the end, the trade off was worth it.

Coming back and talking to my friends put perspective to my life and theirs. They no doubt rolled the dice, too, but in a much safer way. They went to school or got good jobs and started families. They were way ahead of me in terms of a normal life. They had their houses, cars, wives and kids. Most of them doing very well in fact, but when I told them of my adventures and experiences I could see in their eyes a sort of sadness for missed opportunities. I could tell that they had once dreamed and longed for adventure, but buried those feelings for more practical matters.

So all's well that ends well, I guess... Well, I guess you rolled the dice and won... I hope you do realize it could have turned out differently, but in the end, it's good to hear things went well for you ;)