Dude, It’s Time to Leave That Thing Behind For Good!

To my older friends, I must be honest and admit that I sometimes entertain regrets, though not as often as in the last decade or two before retirement. And I’ll confess I regret wasting any energy on them, for I know what the Lord says about looking backward—Don’t go there!

Yet, every once in a while, questions take over my mind. Did I make the right investment decisions before retiring? Should I have acted differently in certain situations that still haunt me? Should I have stayed in touch with that particular person, while letting go of others much sooner?

Don’t you want to scream whenever you catch yourself rehashing some aspect of your past that you can NEVER wrap your arms around and alter? In fact, that sonic boom you might have heard yesterday was me screaming over here in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, about a decision I made in 2002 and crying out to the Lord to take that regret away from me forever!

You see, some doors briefly open for us to make a significant choice or determination, then close just as quickly, leaving us to realize later that we might have missed an opportunity of a lifetime.

In my first novel, Champagne Waves & Sailing Ships (Book One of The Golden Slide series), coming out this fall, my retired main characters believe there is little hope of escaping the consequences of earlier mistakes in judgment or devastating heartbreak. Thus, they must finish life as if they’re drifting far offshore on a sailboat with shredded and useless sails.

Yet, when they have an encounter with a potentially significant other, a door cracks open, making way for a second chance at lifelong love to squeeze in before that door shuts forever. I believe that for all of us, our best is yet to come—IF we can unfurl fresh sails and keep moving forward toward a vision of a greater future of better things to come!

I recommend carrying a baseball bat with you whenever you’re drawn into the dark places in your mind. You might need to beat a regret into nonexistence, once and for all!

“No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us.” (Philippians 3:13-14 TLB)