If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.
—Proverbs 9:12
Punctuating thought and speech with negative “ifs” will dump you in the company of losers:
If the teacher hadn’t had it in for me …
If my father had been more attentive …
If I hadn’t gotten bad breaks …
Pumping up the positives will land you in the company of winners:
If I hadn’t had the advantage of being born when and where I was …
If I hadn’t been blessed with good parents …
If God had not given his Son and Jesus his life for me …
“If” is constructive as a positive;
destructive as a negative.