Every now and then, I will read a story, watch a movie, or hear something which throws me back in time. My brain pulls up a "replay" of various events in my life which cause me to think—
"I wish I'd handled that better".
"Where would I be if I had stuck it out a little longer?"
"If only I could have been the mother I am now when my children were little".
And with those words I spiral into the pointless longing for yesterday.
The problem is I do not own a T.A.R.D.I.S (Doctor Who fans—you get me). There is no flux capacitor enabled DeLorean parked in front of my apartment. (Which is just as well. Nobody wants to deal with the fallout of crossing personal timeline's or disrupting the space-time continuum. So much pressure!)
The problem with regret is that it (re)solves nothing. The moping (which is what it is) does nothing but derail my emotional/spiritual progress in the present. When I camp out in the past, I become so morose that emotional pain alters into the substantial.
A living thing sitting on my chest, so heavy, it threatens to become unbearable.
"Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall." Psalm 55:22 (NLT)
And then I remember.
Thank you, GOD!
Yes! I am so guilty of looking back with regret, and having to constantly go back to God and give him my old failures.
I am also guilty of the opposite–waiting until things are perfect before I do things. I'll plant a garden when I move out of the apartment and into a house, I'll paint the walls when the kids are older, I'll study the Bible when I have more time. Of course things are never perfect in this world and we need to do what God gives us time to do as we go along. If I did that, I'd have fewer regrets later.
What a mess I am! Thank God for Jesus!
My recent post All Play and No Work, Makes Jack a Dull Boy
THe "wudda, cudda, shoulddas can eat you up. There is no PEACE in them. Put your strength in the now and work on where you're spend your future.
Yes indeed. I think it's easy to fall into a pattern of regret. However, there is no growth or peace, only staying in place. Much better to look to God and let the past remain behind.