Without Regret
Everybody makes mistakes. I’ve made plenty. Good things can come from the most outrageous missteps in life. I had a baby when I was 16. Now I have an amazing daughter that I couldn’t imagine my life without. Jesse and I married too soon and for all the wrong reasons yet we’ve been gifted with a life together that is full of love and hope.
Mistakes can bring about change and can highlight the dark corners of our life where we need to change, or repent, or release.
I think regrets are something different. I view regrets as something we desperately wish could be different yet we can’t redo. Regrets are the times when we make a choice that we wish we had never made, one that effects the outcome of a situation permanently.
In my mind mistakes can be celebrated, regrets need to be mourned.
There are very few things in my life that I truly regret… calling my mother an awful name in anger because I was a selfish teenager not getting my way… not visiting my grandfather in the hospital before he died because I thought it would hurt too much… not visiting Sara sooner because I allowed money to get in the way… all the things I can’t redo, or undo, no matter how hard I try.
Last night learned that our sweet friend Sara had passed away and the feeling of regret that I had this morning was suffocating. Then my friend Matthew’s post reminded me to breathe… breathe deeply… and find joy. Without regret.
The physical, in person visit wasn’t as important as the friendship. How or where Sara and I spent our time together isn’t as important as the fact that we spent it. Together. And we spent it well…
Laughing.
Loving.
Praying.
Dreaming. Together.
Without regrets.
Beautiful. I’m so happy you got to meet her IRL. I have to wait until I get to heaven. But she meant so much to me and today, today I’ll breathe deeply too. ((Hugs))
No regrets, Nicole. She loved those who never physically crossed her threshold as much as those who did. She felt your love and loved you back as if you were perched on the edge of her bed. As she shrunk the internet to her charming circle of diverse friends, we were blessed by her presence here as she brought friends together in a way that nobody else could. You were never far. No regrets; choose joy!
i SO get this.
love you friend. and i know sara loved you very much!
oh my love! you have no idea how your words are resonating right now. wait… no… you DO know. you and i talk. you and i ARE on the same page here. and i am SO grateful for your friendship.
love you so. as i know our Gitz did too.
Yes, Sometimes mistakes can turn out to be so good. Like with my cousin who got pregnant at the very young age of 17, she had no regret, but instead she is thankful to have her son in her life.