Regrets

When I started this post, I had a specific image in my head I wanted to find. So I went to my dear friend Google. You see, there's that timeless old television/movie quote that is constantly reused which perfectly fits with what I wanted to write about...but no one on the internet can agree on its origins...so here it is from Friends:

 

 (In my head, I'm pretty sure I saw a cartoon character flying through the sky, screaming "I regret nothing!" But instead we get Chandler and Joey, which works, too.)

 Regrets. We try to avoid having them, but we all undoubtedly live with them. Some are small and easily avoided the second time around, like, "Man, I regret ordering that egg sandwich from that cafe that one time." Others are much bigger and less open for change, like, "I really regret getting my degree in finance--I should have gone into education!" ;)

I'm happy to say that in my life, I have very few regrets so far. See, when I try to think about things I maybe should regret, I realize how instrumental those choices were for me at that time. For example, I could regret not going to ISU as a freshman, but then I would have twice as much student debt. I wouldn't have met Torrie and Kasha and all my other friends from Parkland. I wouldn't have been Katie's roommate or Marta's neighbor or Alexandra's floormate. Those are changes I wouldn't ask for in a million years! 

I could regret getting a job in my hometown right after graduation, but then I would just be unemployed living somewhere else and having to pay rent and buy groceries and my debt would increase in that capacity...and I wouldn't be teaching in a great building with awesome coworkers and fantastic kiddos. Nope, no regrets there.

I could regret the guys I have had dates with. I could regret not sticking it out to see where it might lead, but of those six guys, two are engaged, two are dating other people, one I haven't seen or heard from since, and one I view as a completely dodged nuclear bomb...so no regrets there. (The nuclear bomb is the only one I regret going out with, by the way...and if you've figured out who it is, you know why!) So I'm glad I didn't pursue something when someone else is able to make those guys happy.

BUT...I do have some regrets. 

~~I regret not going with Emily and the other girls to drink wine under the Eiffel Tower when it was all lit up and sparkly. Sure, I was exhausted. But those chances don't come around too often...I really regret not doing that.

~~I regret not spending more time with my grandfather before he passed. Hospitals really make me uncomfortable, and in the back of my mind, I kept telling myself he would go home again and I could visit him there. I also regret that I don't spend more time with my grandparents when they all live so close to me.

~~I regret not staying in touch with people better. Friends from high school. College acquaintances. Friends who have moved to different coastlines...I know I'm terrible at keeping in touch, but even when I do make an effort, it never seems like it comes soon enough to save anything.

~~I regret almost everything I ever said to anyone in middle school (and the early years of high school). Man, I was weird. And awkward. And just weird, man! I'm really sorry, people.

~~I regret ordering that egg sandwich that one time from the Borders cafe. Wow, do I regret that!

As wonderful as it might be to live your life so you don't have any regrets, at some point, you are going to have them. The hope I have for you is that you don't let them run your life. Don't be Uncle Rico. Just don't do it.

Stay gold!