The Elephant in the Room

I love the story about the king who purchased an elephant.  No one in his kingdom had ever seen an elephant so he called in four of his wisest advisers and blindfolded them, then he place them at different points around the beast.  Next he asked them to tell him what they thought they were touching.  The one who had been placed at the tail said he was sure it was a whip.  The one at the elephant's ear said he was sure it was a giant fan.  The one at the foot said it was a tree.  He was sure of it because he could feel the stump.  The one in front at the trunk said he was certain it was a large hose.  Then the king told each man to remove his blindfold.  They were all shocked at what they saw.
The king then said, "I want each of you to learn a lesson from this.   So often we are wrong about things because we fail to see the whole picture.  We base our evaluations on what we are able to feel.  When we are able to look at all the different parts of a situation, we so often find our opinion changes entirely.
Looking back is so very different from looking forward.  A friend of mine once said to me that hind sight was 20/20.  Boy, was she right.   Looking back we tend to think of all the things we would change, we would be kinder, gentler, wiser, better parents, better partners, better everything.  But because we took the path we took, we ended up where we are today.  And who's to say if we had taken a different one we might not have liked where we ended up nearly as well.
One thing I have learned in my life is to not look back at all the things I should have done differently.  If I had done them differently I might not be nearly as well off as I am today.  Am I independently wealthy?  Certainly not!   Am I exceedingly wise?  Heavens no!  Are there things if done differently might  have contributed both to my wealth and my insight?  Oh, yes indeed!  But I don't know where those things would have led me.  They just might have cost me my husband and my children, or maybe even destroyed my faith.
I have learned to try and look at the whole picture before I form an opinion.  Something I almost never did when I was younger.  And just like the men with the elephant, it's amazing how often my mind changes once I have.