This is a true story, so don’t you dare laugh…

The other morning I was running late, rushing to catch the cross-town bus. Taking the bus from east to west would shave ten minutes off my already hectic commute. I expected the bus to approach from behind, so I kept looking over my shoulder as I speed-walked toward the bus stop. When I took a moment to look ahead I saw a cross-town bus already at the bus stop, preparing to leave. I thought,”Oh ,sh&t. If I run I can make it.” The bus driver saw me running…and pulled off.

I cussed the bus driver out—in my head—as I schlepped the remaining cross-town blocks to the train station. By the time I arrived at the subway station that morning something was abundantly clear: I was so focused on the bus that I expected to come from behind, I missed the opportunity that was right in front of me.

I coulda been a contender: the coulda, shoulda, woulda refrain.

I am guilty of playing the “ coulda, shoulda, woulda” continuous loop in my head. You know the song:

If someone gave me a chance I coulda been a contender (shout out to Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront”).

“I shoulda followed up via email with that person in order to grab coffee and discuss business.”

“If he asked me to do that I woulda done it in a hot second!”

There is some value to these “what if” scenarios. Having perspective and dissecting past imperfects is essential to ensuring that I don’t repeat the same mistakes now and in the future. The challenge is not getting so hung up on looking over my shoulder that I forget to look at what is in front of me right now.

For example:

• I could mull over the less than stellar way a former employer treated me OR use that time to network and focus on the opportunity to take me, 40Muse and my career to the next level.

• I could spend time seething over that dude that told a huge lie OR take five minutes to holler back at that guy on OkCupid who wants to grab coffee.

As I finally descended the stairs to the subway station that morning I was still a few minutes behind schedule, but a bit wiser. The life lesson: Don’t spend so much time looking behind that I miss the chance within reach; I am exactly where I need to be at this very moment. That’s a little bit of therapy courtesy of the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) all for $2.50, the price of a MetroCard.