Philippians 3:13

May 21,2020

re·gret /rəˈɡret/
Noun: a feeling of sadness, repentance, or disappointment over something that has happened
or been done especially a loss or missed opportunity.

As we go through life there are a lot of things we learn along the way. You picked up a couple of
things by copying your parents and people in your immediate surroundings. Perhaps you picked
up some stuff in the history class you took while in school. We learn through other people’s
experiences and advise from the elderly. It is undisputed that the greatest teacher of life is life
itself. Our own personal lives and experiences is the greatest teacher of life.

As a young person I was of the mindset that if I listen carefully to the elderly then I will not make
terrible mistakes that others have done before me. Growing up in a culture where adults are
respected and the elderly are adored for their knowledge, will teach one that life can be far from
mistakes by listening and following the advise of predecessors. But as I grew I quickly realized
that there is not such a life without mistakes and wrong turns. In spite of all the advice and all
the heard experiences, sometimes I felt like a robot following commands I was not sure about.
Sometimes my curiosity will lead me to try out things to see if what was adviced or heard was
indeed true. Then I realized that maybe I have been missing out on some things and I wanted to
try out almost everything that comes my way. I found happiness, success and fulfillment in
some of the things I pursued and this urged me to try more things. But Ive hit big walls that
broke me and left me shuttered. I missed out on great opportunities and let myself go when I
could have done better. The terrible mistakes, losses and missed opportunities led me into a
deep sense of regret. I felt sad, and disappointed over something that has happened. I started
leaving in regret.

Every time I remembered the past there will be a pit in my stomach, I’ll press my lips together
remorsefully and the hhhmm sound sometimes follow. I was in deep sense of regret. I always
thought to myself, if only I had done this or that, if only I had taken this turn or that turn maybe I
wouldn't have ended up here. The thought of the past haunted me for days, weeks, months.
Whenever I remembered I relived the whole thing all over again. I was living in the past. As
Ramata Suzuki said, Regret is such a short word and yet it stretches on forever. I used to think I
was alone in this, but I’ve realized that many are living under this same umbrella of regret. The
thought of the past haunts them day and night and they can seem to let it go. Those thought has
become a torn in their flesh and will not let them move on. Perhaps you can relate to this as
well.

You see I’ve come to the realization that in spite of the advice you wilI hear and experiences of
others you will encounter some things in life are only thought best by experiencing it yourself.
Even if you learn from the experiences of others you will still have to learn how to apply it to
your life. While doing that you will make a lot of wrong turns,and stupid decisions. What you do
with those failures is what ultimately matters. What you do with the disappointment and
mistakes is what will create the difference. You can choose to brood over your mistakes, be sad
and broken about your past or you can choose to use those as a pedestal to jump the hurdles
that life has ahead of you. No matter what you do, you can’t go back and change the beginning,
but you can begin now to change the ending. ( c.s Lewis).

Paul, certainly should be a man of many regrets but he knew very well that brooding over the
mistakes of the past will do nothing but pull him down further in the mad of life. Therefore he
wrote to the Philippians church, “ Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But
one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead”. I’ve learnt
and still learning daily to put behind me the things of yesterday, focus on the things of today
and look forward to the things of the future. This life has taught me never to live with regrets
over my failures, mistakes, and disappointment but to look at all of them as lessons and finger
post along the road to success. They are all moments of learning to be a better version of
ourselves tomorrow. After all, Jesus loves you, gave his life to pay for your past and has
promised to give you peace, hope and an expected end. So why Linger in the past? Why live
with regrets ?

“There are better things ahead than any we leave behind” (c.s Lewis)