Posts Tagged: the positive aspects of regret

“Thankful for Regrets”

On February 4, 2020 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

I have decided to be thankful for regrets.  This probably demands some explanation.

I have lots of deep regrets.  I regret the ways in which I’ve treated people in the past.  I regret things I’ve done.  I regret things I have not done.  I regret missed opportunities.  Sometimes, I regret me.

But my sweetheart and I had a very thought-provoking conversation the other day.  I was saying—not for the first time—how much I was weighed down with regrets.  She said something that was like a beautiful sunrise after many grey days.  “Maybe the regrets are part of your recovery.”

She pointed out that perhaps I needed these regrets to keep me from repeating the mistakes of the past.  “You know,” she added, “it’s not necessarily a good thing to feel no regret for the wrongs you’ve done.  You wouldn’t want to be a person who has no conscience, would you?”

Now, admittedly, a lot depends upon what I do with my regrets.  Do I allow them to dominate me and drive me to despair?  That would obviously be a bad use of regrets.  However, the bad use of anything, even regret, does not mean that the thing itself is bad.

A good question to ask is this: Are my regrets riding me, or am I riding them?

The story is told of a man who had never ridden a horse.  A friend was trying to teach him to ride.  His friend saddled his normally very docile horse, but the horse’s owner failed to cinch up the girth strap properly.  The horse had held its breath, so the saddle was loose when the man got on it.  The saddle slipped sideways, and the normally docile horse became a bucking bronco.  (Lest you think this terribly far-fetched, I had a very similar experience with a Shetland pony when I was in the seventh grade.)

The novice rider didn’t know what to do, so he tried to hang on for dear life.  But trying to hang on and get back on a horse’s back when the saddle has slipped would not be an easy task for even an experienced rider.

The last straw came when the bucking horse got its hoof stuck in the stirrup.  Just before he hit the ground, the horseman was heard to yell, “If you’re gettin’ on, I’m getting’ off!”

If regrets are riding you, let go.  But if you are riding your regrets, ride on, sister or brother!  Ride on, and thank God for your horse.  Just make sure that your saddle is cinched up good and tight.

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