Regrets...I've Had A Few

With apologies to Frank Sinatra...

I repeatedly "share" with my boys the peril of regret; specifically,
that regrets never go away, especially if they are of the things-not-done
variety.

I tell them, "No one has ever said, 'Rats, I wish I'd never learned to play piano.'"
Or, "I wish I hadn't persisted with martial arts long enough to get my black belt."
Or, "All those skills I learned in Scouts...wish I didn't have those."

My way of saying, "Nope, you're not abandoning this yet."

I don't think fear  motivates their reluctance,
they just don't (yet) see the long-term value of persistence, self-discipline,
time-management, habit-of-mastery.

But, sometimes fear IS there.
It's kept me from doing things in the past; opportunities that won't come back.

I've seen fear in some of the girls I skate with.
So, they decide not to compete, or to test, or to perform.
Whenever I get a chance, I tell them (or anyone),
"Failure sucks, but regret sucks even more."

Plus, most failure is temporary.
Life is extremely generous that way...usually, as long as you're willing to give something another whack, Life allows you to do that.

For years, until a new scoring system came into play,
I would argue with my skating coaches about whether or not I should leave elements out of
my skating programs, if those elements weren't rock-solid.
I usually wanted to give a try.  They didn't want me to be penalized.
I didn't want the regret of an opportunity missed, even if it was a looooong shot!

And I know first-hand...if I decide, in the heat of the moment,
to start leaving elements out of a program, I regret it immediately.

When members of my family have travel opportunities that involve flying
(I'm not a fan...to say the least),  it's really, really difficult to choke back my
own fear and say, "Of course you must go.  It's a wonderful opportunity."
But, I KNOW I would regret trying to hold them back.

Years ago, when I had decided to leave my soul-sucking government job
and work from home, a co-worker and I were discussing health insurance,
which I carried for the family. She was trying to dissuade me from leaving.
"What if one of you has a medical emergency or gets really sick?" she asked.
"But, what if we don't?" I countered.

Five years later, we haven't had any medical emergencies, and the list of family memories
I wouldn't have made, new friends I wouldn't have met and new skills I wouldn't have learned
is too long to list.

Regrets, I've had a few...but I'm working hard to keep that list short!