Today I learnt of the death of an old friend who passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. This was the second time in just a few days that I have been reminded of the fragility of life. Earlier in the week during coffee with a good friend she shared the story of the unexpected death of a family friend. He was physically fit and only a week prior had been given a clean bill of health.
When I received the news today, I felt a pang of regret. I had been thinking of him often in the last few weeks, and several times I reminded myself that I must give him a call to organize a catch up and to see how he was doing. But in the business of life, time escaped me and I got caught up with the everyday urgency of living.
Today, I regret not making the time, regret that I have missed the opportunity to say ‘hello’ one last time to a friend.
We all have situations and circumstances in our life that I am sure upon reflection we would do differently. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and how many times have we wished for that crystal ball that could provide some clarity and certainty.
However, life is complicated, life is messy and there is not always certainty. None of us are perfect or have the perfect life, we all have regrets and we all make mistakes. The weight of regret can be overwhelming and drag us to depths of despair.
But as I was reminded this week, life is short and the only certainty is today.
Today we can choose to complain about the rain, or we can be Thankful the grass and plants are being watered.
Today we can choose to moan it is not Sunday or we can be Thankful for a new day and new opportunities, and today we can choose to regret our past failures or we can be Thankful for the experience and learn from our mistakes.