Last week, I waxed on about how well the paths in the roads ahead of us can lead to something so much better than we ever imagined. And a lot of our lives feel like they’re dictated by the butterfly effect.

What do you imagine your life would look like if you had made different choices than you did? Different school, different initial career, different city. Would you still find yourself here today?

I think what is really meant for us will find us. And this week’s guest, Chef Kevin O’Donnell, really owns this. His restaurant Giusto in Newport, Rhode Island not only means “right” in Italian, as in everything just felt right to him and that this was the place, but also “just,” meaning he wants to do right by those who work with him and join him for a meal.

Kevin made choices as a teenager that he definitely views as mistakes, and led to time rehabilitating to put him back on track. But he has spent 25 years since building a beautiful life around giving back to others through incredible food. And he fell in love with cooking at that teenage detention center.

So if Kevin hadn’t made a quote unquote mistake, he wouldn’t have realized how much cooking meant to him. And we wouldn’t have the incredible chef and guy putting his heart out on the plate in the world now.

Remember this the next time you look back at your choices and think “Man, would my life have been better if I had just done x differently?” It’s in the past for a reason. What matters is where you’re lining up now and the mission you put forth into the future.