What If Regrets Had Power?

Isn’t it amazing how they go into detail telling us everything about puberty and the male and female reproductive organs, along with visual enhancement, including raging hormones and what to expect?

Puberty is a critical time that changes our bodies and minds.

Some survive with pain and regrets, and others learn and improve their chances for the future. It’s a challenging road for many.

I find it shocking that not much energy, time, or tolerance goes into educating our world about the pain and care associated with aging.

Teenagers and many of their actions, choices, and decisions are tolerated, understood, and addressed.

It could be because humanity favors youth. In my experience, the elderly have been pushed aside and forgotten while still alive.

Yes, they have.

As a caregiver, all of my cases are females who have lost their husbands. Their children help, but these women want to die in spite of the care and love given to them by families and friends.

Regrets turn their hearts blue with sadness. I don’t understand. They say they had happy marriages and their husbands were the loves of their lives. And yet regrets refuse to leave their hearts.

I asked one of them, “If you had a happy marriage and still live in your house, and insurance pays for your care and everything else you need, and your children visit daily and help to care for you, why aren’t you happier?”

She reached out, touched my clasped hands, then pulled my chin up and asked, “When you were a child, did you want to be an adult?”

“None of us could wait to be adults when we were children,” I said, returning to my childhood. “Mostly because we didn’t like the rules our parents imposed.”

“When you got your wish, did you ever want to return to your parents’ protection?” she asked.

Shock held me as I struggled for an answer. My childhood wasn’t happy, and I never wanted to go back, no matter what I faced as an adult. I stared into her eyes and revealed, “No. I was so glad I escaped. I learned from my childhood and improved myself.”

“I had a good life. Aging is taking it away from me,” she complained, turning away from me.

“But it’s a natural part of life, and out of human control. We only have one life, and if lived well, regrets shouldn’t stop us from going on living,” I stressed, on the edge of frustration.

With a sly smile, she said, “Losing the best part of your life will do that to you.”

“What if regret had the power to remove from our lives all the things that we wish hadn’t happened?”

“Where can I find him?” she questioned.

“How did you meet your husband?” I asked.

“In detention when I was in the tenth grade,” she answered with furrowed brows.

“Did you think you deserved to be in detention?”

“Oh no, Shirley the She-devil lied, and Mrs. Feldman believed her, and I was sent to detention while she went home,” she said, going back into her past. “My parents punished me, and I lost my babysitting job, too.”

“You regretted all of that, didn’t you?”

“Why the hell shouldn’t I!” she fired back.

“But you gained the love of a lifetime that lasted sixty years,” I reminded her.

Shock widened her eyes as realization exploded in her heart and soul, and she dropped her head to her lap.

Pushing back the silence, I shared, “Many of us aren’t aware that the same action and reaction connect us to something ugly that magically turned beautiful. Regretting it would remove everything, the good and the bad.”

In tears, she said, “You are right, child. I guess human beings should be happy regrets have no power.”

Go back into your life. Follow the action-and-reaction chain of events that brought you happiness and love.

Imagine if regrets had the power to grant our wishes!

Would you still harbor regrets in your heart?

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoyed and will savor more from some talented writers on this platform.

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