Kilroy on Regret

                At my age, we’re not supposed to have it.  Adults tell us not to have any regrets.  Well I’m 16 and I have a long list.  A lot of people regret things they did, but the worst regrets are the things we didn’t do. 

                I regret not striking up a conversation with that girl today at church. 

                I waited a year and a half to talk to her and all I could muster was “hello.”

                I regret not talking to the girl across the table at lunch last year.

                She took her own life that winter.

                Those little mishaps can drive us under when we dwell on them.  There are lessons to be learned from each of these, but that is all.  When we dwell on things they consume us.  They begin to define who we are, how we act, and how we treat others.  They can determine our actions in the future.  But that is our mistake.  We kick ourselves over and over for what we’ve done wrong and spend so much time looking down that we fail to look up.  There will come opportunities down the road to redeem yourself if you only dare to look.

                I sent the girl a message the moment I got home from church because I knew it was time to act.

                I’m doing my best to help a friend out of depression because I don’t want to see her go.

                So when we feel the worst about the things we’ve done and the things we’ve failed to do, that’s when it’s time to look up and realize that redemption is sweeter than revenge.  It may not erase our actions of the past, but it will benefit us for the future.  So while regret is unavoidable, it is not infallible.