As things actually were

This still doesn't seem to be enough. You don't mean only that if you had chosen the peach, you would have had it. When you say, "I could have had a peach instead," you also mean that you could have chosen it -- no "ifs" about it. But what does that mean?It can't be explained by pointing out other occasions when you have chosen fruit. And it can't be explained by saying that if you had thought about it harder, or if a friend had been with you who eats like a bird, you would have chosen it. What you are saying is that you could have chosen a peach instead of chocolate cake just then, as things actually were. You think you could have chosen a peach even if everything else had been exactly the same as it was up to the point when you in fact chose chocolate cake. The only difference would have been that instead of thinking, "Oh well," and reaching for the cake, you would have thought, "Better not," and reached for the peach

[Thomas Nagel, What does it all mean?]

What does "as things actually were" mean? I think it means "in the same situation". Is my understanding correct?