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What’s Not to Regret?

Wouldn’t it be great if we were given do overs for past life choices? Or better yet, that life would function more like a sketch pad? I know I would have gone through mine in pencil first before committing it to indelible ink.

Life obviously doesn’t work that way, and each experience or happenstance, once in the past, is nothing more than a one-off, a permanent reference blip (no matter how plastic our memories of them become). Life continually refuses the chance for us to go back and recolor wherever we may have gone outside the lines. True that there’s the odd, rare opportunity to revisit a badly drawn part; but a lack of erasers means a risk of screwing things up even more by attempting to correct previous answers. Anyone who ever tried to write a “6″ over a “9″ on an important test will see what I’m getting at. Don’t do that with a magic marker — sorry, but I prefer to start over with a blank sheet, rather than face the mess. Thanks anyway.

With this said, I’ll note that I’m not one to regret any of the things I’ve done. Forever curse myself for them yes, but not regret them. I can avoid the drowning sense of disappoint because I keep in mind the idea that everything I do is going to be completely new to me. As even God (if you’re concerned about Him) can forgive those who make mistakes, who am I to come down on myself? I admit it’s weird living a life where I can refuse to repent any actions taken or important avenues missed, yet know I’d choose to do things differently the second time through (like I’d ever get the chance). If you’re not sure about this, just trust me; it’s weird.

A main motivator for my refusal to burn regretfully over my previous life decisions, other than the protective art of self-forgiveness, is the lack of foreknowledge about where we’d end up if the ability to slip back in time and follow a new course were part of the kit we’re handed at birth. The path you fail to follow can end up as bad as where you actually lead yourself to. And keep in mind the deadpan truism: it could always be worse. I nor anyone can say that would always be the case, but playing the lottery should entail a slim but fair chance of winning. When the odds are stacked so high against you (and by that I mean, against everyone), it’s smarter to look elsewhere for instant wealth.

In a further confusing note, I really don’t see life as either a once around the block affair, nor a training ground for regret avoidance counseling. Whether you believe life to be a wondrous gift from the Creator of your choice, a not so miraculous spark of chemical and natural events (divinely-driven or not), or just a topic of discussion you’re instantly bored with, try not to accept the black & white point of view. Life, the numerous gradations flowing from one color into another shown in its complexity, only hint at the fluctuating, powerful thing hiding behind our surface impressions of it. Life is a simple thing, and an elaborate one, and I can’t think of a better way of putting it.

And talking about life can get a bit heavy at times, so I’ll stop now before I go all serious.