Regrets, I’ve had a few. I am far from perfect. Not even close. I don’t like disappointing others or myself. I don’t like making a mistake that hurts someone’s feelings. I don’t like realizing later that I have done something thoughtless. Like any other year, it has been a year of making mistakes and hopefully learning from them. In many ways mistakes are learning opportunities. If I can leave something behind in 2015, I want to leave that awful feeling of regret. One way to leave regret behind is to apologize and try to make amends when possible. It won’t change what happened, but at least someone will know that you wish you could make things better.
So this year I plan to make a list of my regrets and try to do something about them. If all else fails, I hope to have learned my lessons. Then I can take that list and toss it in the fire on New Years Eve. I can be thankful for the lessons that they have taught me and try not to make the same mistakes again.
Life is short. One of the best lines I heard my niece say to her little daughter this Christmas Eve when her daughter was disappointed was, “We are all just doing the best we can.”
So let’s start the year with a clean slate and enjoy the time we have.
You can learn more about the Victorian idea of a Good Riddance Party here.
What would you like to leave behind in 2015?
(Aspiring to be a) Joy Spreader
