We’ve all been there. One choice from a different life. Sometimes we knew it. Sometimes we blew it. Sometimes a glance in the rearview mirror is all it takes to confirm we made the right choice.
Sometimes the coulda, woulda, shoulda’s staccato’d through our mind to a beat our heart never got the hang of.
Numerous one choice decisions played into the arrival of where we are today. Many know that to be true. In my own life I’ve learned a lesson worthy of the choices:
Life was never meant to be consumed with only a legacy of regret to show for it.
Regrets. I’ve had a few. What about you?
There’s something about the rearview mirror effect (aka hindsight) that produces another choice:
- Am I going to continue living from the one choice place I now regret? Or,
- Am I going to make a choice for good that moves me one step closer to a different life?
How I answer informs what kind of legacy I’ll leave.
Author and pastor Erwin R. McManus said, “At our worst, good is only one decision away.” To be contextually fair, he was expressing the fact that the worst sinner is just one choice from a different life.
It got me to thinking, though, of how true that is throughout the narrative of our life. Especially where regret over one choice made this way or that way is concerned. Regret often comes in different colors.
Red – anger toward others where regret is involved, when dissipated, often reveals we’re angry at moi. Red-hued regret leaves a trail of fire licking up whatever is in its path. People tend to avoid the angry.
Green – jealousy is the monster with green eyes. It’s like antifreeze of the soul producing cool calculations that, indulged, come to no good end. All that ends are relationships, with new regrets.
Yellow – regret not properly dealt with can leave one sickly and prone to a life of weakness – whether physically, emotionally or spiritually. Victory over past regrets is no sunny proposition. Life’s a lemon.
Blue – this is the shade regret frequently manifests. I think it may be regret’s favorite hue. Whether melancholy, bored, unenthused, uninspired, lacking energy, or all-out depressed – blue regret comes packing a vacuum and hose that sucks up the enjoyment of life before you can sample a crumb. Blue regret needs company but drives it away by its very essence.
Eeyore-itis doesn’t help much with leading with your life – or living life forward for that matter. The good news is that every Eeyore has a Friend in Jesus, who lived with no regret but knows what blue feels like. His company of friends deserted Him too.
Thankfully, it didn’t end there for Jesus and it doesn’t have to end there for us either.
When we’re at our worst shade of regret – red, green, yellow, blue – good is only one decision away.
We are never without choices. To decide on the side of good instead of regret is to step onto the path of one choice from a different life.
Sometimes our regret exceeds our willingness. Jesus knows the color of our ache and loves us regretless.
You’re welcome to contact me. We can shoot marbles while you prayerfully consider what life might look like no longer colored by regret.
~ Nancy
Leading With Your Life (Leadership Coaching) category: Love & Legacy. A life of leading, love and legacy.
Photo Credit: Rearview Mirror, Vintage Kamieo Photography
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