Regret and Dread

“Regret of the past and dread of the future are both thieves of joy” – Joyce Meyer


Personal image from El Camino


There are many individuals out there that keep themselves ensnared in the times of yore. But you know what? The past is the past! Forget about it! You can’t undo what has already been done. The question you should be asking yourself is “what did I learn from my past so I can live today without regret or dread?”

When we make mistakes, how much time to we put into “stewing” over the episode? How much drama do we create around the incident? We are upset, we are angry, we go through this process of grieving instead of allowing ourselves to be human, making the appropriate apologies to our loved ones (or even to our inner consciousness) and then moving on to enjoy life. Why be miserable? Again, as Joyce Meyer tells us, regret and dread steal our joy.

I am sitting here now, dreading grading the papers that I have put off for half of the college semester. There were so many so I just kept saying I will get to them. Every day, for about three weeks now, I have said to myself, “I have to get those papers graded.” I have stressed over it and worried about it but have I graded them? Well, no! If I had, I wouldn’t be sitting here dreading the task. That dread has stolen my joy for the past few weeks. Even now, as I sit here talking about it with total strangers, I am stalling in the task. I am living for tomorrow. Tomorrow may never come. I was reminded of this the latter part of last week when my neighbor suddenly died.

As I was getting the kids ready for school, I looked out the window for the bus and there was my neighbor, in his driveway across the street, surrounded by the local police department. You see, he had this little routine. We’ll call him Joe. Joe would wake up each morning and walk down to the end of the block, and then he would pick up his daily paper and go inside his house. The next thing we would see is that Joe would back his car out of the driveway and head down the road for a couple of hours. (Rumor had it that he was meeting his girlfriend at a local restaurant for coffee – Joe was a widow, in his 70’s). A couple of hours later, Joe would return and if I was outside I would get a wave. He was rarely outside, he rarely spoke. I got the feeling that Joe was a little on the shy/quiet side.

My point is, we have lived next door to him for 16 years and didn’t even know his last name. He came. He went. Then, he was gone.

I don’t want to have any more dread or regret. I am going to get those papers graded today. I am going to do my Sarano Kelley mind dump and take care of all those items that are weighing on my mind that I keep putting off because “I can do them tomorrow”. I am going to believe that the universe will take care of me and live for today because tomorrow may not come.

So I will live life for today and let my inner child enjoy every ounce that time has to offer. I will “Be a now person!” – Joyce Meyer