Negotiation and road forks

I was just listening to Forum on the radio. The topic was Bargaining with the Devil: when to negotiate and when to fight. Examples included Mandela negotiating from prison and the US not negotiating with Hitler. I listened with keen interest, but only harvested a few precious nuggets instructive on life.

For one thing, you can't always negotiate with people you trust. You've heard people say they will only negotiate with people they trust, but sometimes that's not a luxury available to you. Many people you can't trust. In fact, I want to do some thinking on what trust is at all.

Also, negotiation only works when you have a Plan B in case the negotiation doesn't work out. You know I'm a huge fan of backup plans. (In fact, I've been fascinated to find that sometimes my Plan B becomes better than my Plan A the more I think about it.) Someone recently asked me to describe the most significant fork in the road I've encountered. In 1997-98, I ended my most important relationship to date (still), quit my job, and went back to graduate school. I guess I wasn't ready to grow up. Am I ready now? (K asks). I hope so. I wonder if our lives become, over time, the multidimensional things including everything we are and everything we could have been, every life we've lived and every life we could have lived. I guess all possible outcomes include sweet and sour flavors.