When my mother expressed her litany of regrets, she used to end with something good. One of my big regrets is not having a PhD, but I get more satisfaction and joy from my two kids and my book. I sometimes regret all the fooling around I did in my 20s, but I learned so much from my adventures and I rid myself of a lot of wanderlust, instead of carrying it with me to old age.
It’s best, when we ruminate and feel remorse, that we forgive our young selves. As my body turns into an old car with parts to repair, my brain turns too often to the past. I remind myself that the past is now larger than my future, but it really bugs me to have all these shoulda coulda wouldas.
Regrets and mistakes, they’re memories made is from Adele’s song, Someone Like You. I use other songs to restore my faith in the future. Put on a Happy Face! I Feel Good! Girls Just Want to Have Fun! Summertime! (and the living is easy), and even my least liked song, (the sun’ll come out) Tomorrow!
One of my favorite old timey sayings is, If You Can’t Take a Joke. I used it for my week in the covid isolation hotel in Ireland in March. It helped. So get your mantras ready and use them. Party Like It’s 1999.
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