Wisdoms from the Journey - Vol III (Sep - Oct 2011)

Functional regret …
(10/30/2011)
“As you grow older, you’ll find the only things you regret
are the things you didn’t do.” ~ Zachary Scott
We are taught that we need to analyze our past in order to remember
our mistakes — to remember the choices that didn’t work out well for us so
that we can then make “better decisions” in the future; decisions that will
bring us more pleasure or more comfort or more wealth or more ease.
And yet, when we examine it closely, we find that real regret -- what
I tend to call “functional regret” -- actually has very little to do with the
wrong things we did engage, and quite a bit to do with the right things we
didn’t. Opportunities to care for others are all around us in every moment of
our lives; opportunities that most of us completely ignore most of the time.
And these are the sources of our Souls’ much deeper regret — these are the
true mistakes of our past. Did we criticize a friend when we could have
encouraged him? … Did we gossip about an enemy when we could have
defended her? … Did we turn away from a homeless stranger when we
could have paused and cared?
Of course, this more profound form of regret has nothing to do with
feeling ashamed of the errors of our past. Instead, “functional regret” nonjudgmentally
recognizes our recent acts of callousness, and then demands
that we go forth into our future and replace them with acts that are
courageously Kind.
“Do not brood over your past mistakes,
as this will only fill your mind with regret and depression.
Simply do not repeat them in the future.” ~ Sivananda
So my Friends, remember that chances to make a real difference are
all around you every day.
Search for them, find them,
… and then act on them.
“Learn to see the world in its true light.
It will enable you to do good while present, and, when
summoned away, to leave without regret.”
~ inspired by Robert E. Lee
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