No Regrets

We all have our struggles.  Sometimes things happen to us that we have little to no control over.  Other times, things happen because of the choices we make.

When I was younger, I tended to beat myself up with regret.  I regretted the choices I made.  I regretted my reactions to things that happened to me.  I wondered, what if I hadn't married when I did?  What would have happened if I had ended it sooner?  What would have happened if we had not moved out of state, and I had accepted the scholarship I was offered to pursue a career in art?  So many what-ifs.

Now that I am older and tend to spend more time reflecting, I have decided to throw out all those regrets and instead see them for the learning experiences they were.  If I had not married, I would not have three wonderful children that mean the world to me.  If my marriage had ended sooner, the time would not have been right to meet my current husband.  If I had gone to college to study art, I would not have had the fulfilling job of teaching English learners.

There will always be things out of our control.  There will be things we cannot change.  We all make mistakes in life; it is how we deal with and see these things that make the difference.  Don't choose to live a life of sadness and regret.  See life as a learning experience and make the best of it.  Smile, show kindness, and enjoy life.  Don't sweat the small stuff.  (In the grand scheme of things, it is all small stuff.)  We are here too short a time to live it in past regrets.