When you look back on everything you’ve done, you’re bound to be filled with regret. Something, somewhere in your life got tangled up in a stream of thoughts and lead you on a path that you’d soon realise was the wrong one. Of course its part of the human experience as a day to day thing, but more importantly above all else its a life thing.

 

I remember my Year 7 teacher lecturing me about not wanting to go shopping with my mum. She knew and understood that as a teenager the last thing that you’d want to do is walk around a Westfield with your mother, while you sit and wait for her to buy a ton of clothes, perfume and jewellery. Sufficed to say, I would’ve spent my time doing even more useless shit but despite that my teacher’s response to the mundane concerns of a boy was a story that rocked my current understanding of the decisions we make in life.

 

When she was a teenager, she loved to read, she studied hard and was very organised in everything she did. Her meticulous nature was emulated in her teaching style and its something that I remember her for, to this day.

One night she lost a book that the class was assigned to read for English, when she couldn’t find it after searching all day she finally gave up and went to bed, frustrated that the next day she was going to be scolded by her teacher and labelled as being irresponsible.

She had forgot to turn off the light to her bedroom and because of that, when her father walked in to say goodnight, he politely told her to remember to do so. Of course, being frustrated and now annoyed, she shot back and silenced him, forcing him out of the room, not giving him a hug or saying goodnight in response, which was emphatic as it was something her family did every night for as long as she could remember.

She went to school the next morning, prepared for a bad day ahead. But what she got instead, was one of the worst days of her life.

 

Whilst her dad was working out in the field the following morning, while she was preparing to get an earful from her teacher, he had a heart attack and tragically passed away shortly after. My teacher never got to say bye, nor would she ever have the chance to hug or say goodnight to her father ever again.

 

 

Now apart from being one of the saddest things a 13 year old can hear, it was also the most valuable lesson any person at any age can learn.

 

I’ve said it in a couple of posts before and ill say it again. There is nothing more fleeting in this world than time. We just don’t have enough of it. And regardless of what we may think it will all go passed so quickly that before you know it your world will be nothing but a bunch of memories.

 

The important thing though, is to understand that regret is the product of a lack of time. We make decisions either through a long stream of thought or as a short decision. In any case, in every path we take, there will always be a time where we regret a decision we might have been so confident in making.

 

 

I regret a lot of things. I’m sure you would too, and that sucks. But this post isn’t designed to tell you how you should avoid ever feeling regretful about anything, its not even to share with you a sad story about a girl who never got to say goodnight to her dad again.

 

Its about reminding us that no matter how hard we try, there will always be a time when we make the wrong decision, where we forget that there might be something better along another path. You will always have those moments, when the world allows you to make a decision and it ends up being the wrong one. Live with it. Grow from it. Its apart of who we all are. The universe gives us a reason every day to get up and do what we have to do. We should cherish each moment and no matter what, we should always remember that time goes by so fast, whether you want it to or not.

 

Remember all these things because one day you might regret it.

 

 

And for Christ’s Sake, if there is anything to learn from my teachers story is that no matter how pissed off you are, hug your mum and dad, and tell them how much you love them, at every chance you get.