By the time you reach seventy-four years old, you’ve had plenty of opportunities to develop feelings of regret. Should I have taken the chance on the career that was offered to me? Should I have spent more time with my family before they all passed away? There was a time when I should have stood my ground and didn’t.
However, at my seasoned time of life, regrets seem foolish because it is blindingly obvious you can’t change a thing. It’s best to take a deep breath, take what you’ve learned and move ahead.
However, at my seasoned time of life, regrets seem foolish because it is blindingly obvious you can’t change a thing. It’s best to take a deep breath, take what you’ve learned and move ahead.
| No Regrets As strange as it may sound, I have no regrets about my life. Because I have never deliberately tried to harm anyone, I cannot feel remorse over situations that weren’t perfect. I cannot change the past no matter how hard I might try. I can only release garbage emotions attached to the memory and see it with new eyes and a mind open to learning. Did I sometimes handle things in a less than stellar way? Of course I did. My journey has had a lot of baggage -- baggage that has lessened over time and through effort. Life is about learning, not accumulating facts, but rather learning what those less than stellar experiences can teach me about myself, about who I really am. There are sometimes flashes of remorse along the way, but it occurs when I think back and realize I missed an opportunity to change the trajectory of my journey, to learn, to open my mind to a new understanding, to more fully recognize my place in the Universe. But, I’m soothed, knowing I always have another chance. A major obstacle on my journey has been failing to factor in the baggage of others in our interactions and fully taking on the blame for any failure. Another has been not allowing myself the privilege of walking away from those loudly spewing garbage and accepting I can’t help them on their journey. I have my journey in this lifetime, and you have yours. It has nothing to do with property, jobs, money, or race. All these things simply provide opportunities to learn about ourselves, whether we are capable of loving ourselves and openly extending that love to others. I’m grateful I’m not the same person of my younger years. Aging can be a blessing if you allow your focus to shift from Outer things to your inner world of thoughts and feelings, Making the effort to learn from your mistakes along the way. I do feel sadness about people I didn’t fully appreciate before, But I can forgive myself now, knowing I did my best then, And I bless them for giving me the chance to learn and grow. ©DWilliamsen |
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