Post by tomdurst on Oct 21, 2008 16:19:27 GMT -5
DEALING WITH REGRETS
By Thomas E. Durst
By Thomas E. Durst
For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are those 'It might have been.' --John Greenleaf Whittier
Most of us have regrets about something. We wish we had cultivated a relationship that "might have been" a wonderful lifelong one or we might regret having had one that turned out to be more hellish than heavenly. We could have treated loved ones who have now passed on in a much better way. We could have done a lot more for them than we did and also we sometimes said things that we wish we hadn't. We could have said many more positive things and less negative ones.
What we need to realize is that most people are doing the best they know how in life in view of what they know and their circumstances at the time. There is nothing that any of us have ever done that we could not have done better if we had it to do over again. Every word and deed falls short of being as perfect as it could have been, should have been, and would have been had we known better but we we didn't always know better.
So where do we go from here? Instead of letting ourselves be frozen where we are now with regrets about the past let us go forward stronger and wiser for the future. The mistakes of the past can't be undone but we can learn by them, be more tolerant of our current mistakes and those of others, and create a more productive life and a brighter future.
These words from one of my favorite writers express a great philosophy of life:
Finish each day and be done with it....You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you should begin it well and serenely. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
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RELATIONSHIPS AND PRACTICAL LIVING
