Regrets?

Do you have any regrets?

Opportunities you ignored? Relationships you walked away from? Didn’t say, “I love you,” or visit before a loved one died? Job you were afraid to take?

Do you have a trigger (or triggers) that overwhelm you with emotion? You may or may not consciously know why you have that trigger or what the root cause is. Or, does the trigger bring back intense memories?

Some words to describe regret are: sad, repentant or disappointed, usually about something that had, or had not, happened.

I Had No Clue

When the song, “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia” (written by Bobby Russell and debuted by artist Vicki Lawrence) came out in 1973, I teared up and then had an intense visceral reaction, which continues to this day when I hear it. The best way I can describe it is the tears well up and then the back crown of my head gets an intense prickling, so much so it’s actually painful. And I had no clue why…until today.

The Song

The song talks about a man wrongly accused and rushed through mock proceedings because of self-centered authoritative figures who only cared about their own self-interests. The one other person who could help free him didn’t step up to tell the truth.

Reba McEntire – The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia – 1991

This song was (is?) a trigger for me – about my regret. I wasn’t even a teen yet when it came out, but my subconscious reacted to the story the song tells.

Today I discovered that my regret was that as a young child, I was not strong enough to speak out against those who judged me or sentenced me (figuratively) because of their self-centeredness and/or fears. I related to the song.

The adult me understands the child-self’s perceptions, but the song continued to trigger intense responses.

No Regrets

As you explore any regrets, I ask you to keep this in mind:

All of your experiences, including the paths not taken, have led you to where you are, who you have in your life, and who you are right now.

Do you like who you have become? Are you grateful for where you are and/or who’s in your life?

If not, don’t live a life of regret and “what if’s?” You can make constructive changes to become the person you’d like to be.

And if you do like who you are – congratulations! Perhaps now you can release those regrets and “what if’s?”, because the journey you’ve had helped build the you of now.

Related:

https://www.metaphysical-studies.com/news-and-views-september-15-2014/
https://www.metaphysical-studies.com/he-needed-to-be-heard/

by Jan Toomer

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