Dear You,
“Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
the saddest are, ‘It might have been.”
– John Greenleaf Whittier
” It might have been a good year if only I did something.”
” It might have been a successful relationship if only we did not give up.”
” It might have been mine if only I tried to get it.”
” It might have been not painful if only I knew it would happen.”
” It might have been better if only I did not mess up.”
It might have been… If only…
We’ve got a lot of it in our minds and hearts lingering from our past. It’s the saddest phrase that your books in life could ever have. It’s the most loneliest words of all. Somewhere between the lines of your own book lies regret. Regrets of not doing what you should’ve done. Regrets of doing things that you shouldn’t allowed to happen. Regrets of the failures and what ifs in life.
Somehow, these regrets caused you to stay on the same page of your book. It runs through the pages poisoning every supposedly good story you can read. It keeps you from flipping those pages. It keeps you from being truly happy.
You see.. Many times we regret because of our own choices. Sometimes we let go of something and we find ourselves in the future discovering that it’s not worth letting go. Sometimes we were supposedly to be on the right track if only we did not take on the detours. Regrets are born out of the choices that we make.
But what I want you to know is that you are not defined by what you did from the past. You are not defined by your might-have-beens in life. You are not defined by your painful scars. Not because you did not make it through before, you can’t make it this time. Not because you did it before, you can’t change it this time. Yes. You can never undo what you’ve already done. You can never do something about it after the time passed by. But you can always be better today. Time has her own way of reminding us that things in the past can never be altered but things of today and tomorrow always leaves us a choice. We can always choose.
Regrets, if used to keep you away from what the present and future could bring, can destroy you. On the other hand, if used to make you do things better today, can be your greatest tool in life’s journey.
Never allow your regrets to snatch the joy that this life can bring. Never make the might-have-beens in your life a reason for you to stop chasing your dreams into reality.
Move forward and use these if-onlys in life to be better this time. It’s not yet too late to make today and tomorrow the best chapters in your book. ♥️
Love,
Aubrey