It’s fascinating to get inside a movie director’s head by checking out the extra features on a movie. From the Director’s Cut to the making of the film, how intriguing to see the project from the outset through to the finished product. As a writer this is great learning, but I particularly love watching deleted scenes and the accompanying Director’s commentary.

The deleted scenes are often removed for the benefit of the story. I’ve heard directors talk through deleting a fleeting scene where there might be a romantic connection that later weakens a character’s integrity or their interaction with another member of the cast. Other times the scene just doesn’t work or fails to serve a useful purpose in advancing the story.

For instance, in watching the deleted scenes from the recent movie release, Frozen, the directors revealed that for some time Elsa, the newly crowned queen, was going to be a villain throughout the entire story! What a different story that would have been. Would the powerful message of selfless love overcoming the destructiveness of fear and paving the way for healing and restoration have been diluted, if even still possible?

I wonder how many times we’ve wished for a certain scene to be included in our life? Perhaps you’re like me and long to rewrite certain scripts, convinced it should have worked out differently.

But maybe those seemingly non-existent scenes ended up in the delete scenes folder. Maybe what we thought was the best plot for our story, would have actually had a negative impact on the way our journey unfolded – or potentially changed the powerful themes of our story that enable us to connect with and encourage others.

Perhaps instead of wishing for the missing scenes, we should celebrate the ones that made the cut. It doesn’t mean we mightn’t experience a sense of loss as we release sub-plots we felt sure of having, but I think it’s really important not to spend our energy mourning the regrets, the ‘what if’s. How much better to focus on the beautiful elements of the future that await us from where we are right now.