On Choosing Regret

We often find ourselves regretting those things we can’t control, including especially the past. Regret is reality; seeking to avoid it isn’t a pure motivation. We may regret giving in to fear, or allowing others to suffer. Are we justified in giving a warning or pressing a point? But resistance, even very slight resistance, is a sign of a loss of trust. Do you intervene, and lose trust? Do you stay silent, choosing regret?

Regret is sadness, related to repentance. A cousin, maybe. Less is more, and more is less, and less is also less. The great thing here is to know when you’re choosing it. Maybe we failed to produce the strength to ask for help. Maybe we became overwhelmed and didn’t persist. Maybe we lacked understanding, to see a complaint required no action, just there for the relief and/or justification it provides.

The old prayer book confesses things not done that we ought to have done. Because there is no health in us. Anyone can confess to things they have done; they remember themselves. Healthy people, who have been healed, are justified in admitting weakness. There is more undone than we know. It takes faith.