Sinatra sang, “Regrets, I’ve had a few but then again, too few to mention.” We all have regrets in our lives but sometimes there are smaller things to lament. They don’t rank as high up as the top rung, so I denote them as being third-tier laments. No, this is not my “Bucket List” because most of these items cannot be done or undone and to the best of my knowledge, I’m not dying yet. “Bring out ya dead!” That’s a line from some movie, but I have digressed.
I will list some of my laments for you. Perhaps you have some of your own to spice things up or can relate to some of mine. Okay, here are my third-tier laments:
1. I didn’t go to Woodstock
2. I never learned to play the piano
3. Had several careers but never did interior decorating as one of them and it’s my favorite hobby
4. Once gave my heart to a junkman (okay, maybe twice)
5. Failed to get Muhammad Ali’s autograph on a photo we had taken together
6. Never learned to Samba
7. Didn’t hit the kid in the third grade who broke my very first gold necklace
8. Believed the nuns about patent leather shoes and slow dancing at school dances with enough room for the Holy Ghost between us
9. Not going to Costa Rica as an exchange student in high school. Was chosen but those parents of mine said no. Humph!
Laments, anyone?
Tags: autograph, costa rica, exchange student, gold necklace, holy ghost, humph, interior decorating, junkman, lament, laments, muhammad ali, nbsp, nuns, patent leather shoes, samba 7, school dances, sinatra, slow dancing, third grade, Woodstock
Often feel I should have at least tried acting professionally before giving up and becoming a teacher. No desire to be famous–just love acting.
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Patricia,
Wow, that was a secret one of mine too. I think we both must have majored in communications. I loved acting too. Language and its nuances from a good writer are to be savored. I was much too shy to pursue it, though. I’ll bet you would have been good. Your blogs are filled with great communication hints. Thanks for weighing in!
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Well…I can honestly say that I have very few things that I would change….
I do wish I had more confidence when I was in Highschool and went into cheer leading
I do wish that I would have started being more athletic at a younger age than I did…although I chose to have a family at an early age and basically had to get into my athletic hobbies at a later period in my life
Learned a second language
Beat up more boys than I had the chance too…LOL!
( I was serious Tom Boy)
All in all…life was good to me. I look back many times and understand why things happened the way they did.
I rarely regret or wish for anything different
Thanks for sharing girl
~D~
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Regrets are very important. For they should prove to your kids that you are/were for real, but don’t forget about the triumphs–even those that only may be as such to you.
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D,
I wonder how many high school girls have self-confidence. There were those in my school who certainly seemed to have it all together, but one never really knows. I worry more about girls today, given all the stressors and peer-pressure they face.
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FishHawk,
I think you are right and that some regrets tell us, through the choices we made, whether they were actually good for us or not and why we arrive at certain decisions today. I suppose we are a composite of our yesterdays. We humans are multi-layered, aren’t we?
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Writing soothes my biggest regrets.
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I was an ambitious learner in high school. I’d taken so many higher level classes by the time that I’d entered my senior year, that I practically had enough credits to graduate as a junior.
I’d needed to take two classes my senior year, gym and English. The school gave me two options….. I could either partake in their “trade school” program, which would mean that I’d goto school for these two subjects, and then be transported to a Tech School for the rest of the day where I could choose to learn a trade.
My other option was to fill the rest of my schedule with extra curricular classes … such as pottery, cooking, photography, etc.
As I reviewed my options, one of the trades I had the opportunity to master was being a “travel agent”. I love to travel, and love to write…. I wanted to do this so bad… I could have traveled the world and critiqued my experiences in writing.
My parents were turned off by the whole “trade school” idea. They feared that I would not pursue a college degree as planned, and they’d determined that I was too smart for a trade school. They said no.
I spent my senior year learning how to cook, how to develop pictures, and how to “throw” on a pottery wheel.
My dad died during my second month of college, and I dropped out. I’ve taken classes over the years since, but have not yet finished the “degree”.
Had I known the course my life would have taken, I wish I would have fought more for the opportunity to explore the travel agent possibility…
BUT…. thanks to sites like expedia.com and travelocity…. I think this career path will soon be extinct.
This reminds me of that Garth Brooks song…. “Thank God for unanswered prayers”
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I hear that Cher….it is worse in fact. The women that are finding my forum are all so young this past year that is is a bit sad.
Then on the flip side of that thought…maybe it is just as well that they have some place to go where they can find support they need form other women that have been there and survived that.
Back in the day(for lack of a better term) when we did not have internet communications….so many people felt alone and more like an outsider in their feelings of being different. Now they can at least reach out and find someone else that is feeling exactly the same way and that in itslef helps them feel not so alone
I can only say that I have lived through my daughters high school years with pleasure as she was one of those girls that cared a less what others thought and she embraced every bit of life even became a star competitive cheerleader. Not the simple…oh look at me type either.
It was the best self-discipline course she could have take.
She also met and formed many very good friendships with other very hard working girls.
It was a learning experience for both of us:)
~D~
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Windroot,
What a profound message. You are a deep thinker, aren’t you? And you are so very right. Writing can be such a catharsis. Think of all the people you are reaching with your words of wisdom. This is when the Internet is at its finest.
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My Dear Tiffany,
You are a Renaissance woman, capable of doing anything you set your mind to. I believe that your journey of self-discovery is the replacement for you career in travel. You are one of those people who are constantly striving to become “more,” in the very best sense of the word. And since you are my daughter-in-law, I can say that.
You may have some laments, my sweet Tiff, but you are a remarkable woman and a wonderful role model for your daughters. And as their Nana, I send you a bushel of love.
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To our resident expert, D
You bring a depth of wisdom and insight rarely found when it comes to women’s issues. You are so correct about young women having more opportunities for solace through the Internet. Your site is proof of that.
I would have guessed that your daughter, much like you, is very grounded. If all young women had you as a role model, they would fare quite well.
If I had another lament, it would be that I never had a sister. If I had, I would have wanted her to be just like you.
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Maybe it’s good that you never turned your interior-design “hobby” into a career–you may have ended up hating it if you had!
I regret never taking voice lessons like I’ve always wanted to. I’d love to have a good, strong singing voice.
And I regret not buying this awesome tunic with a metallic embroidered robot on it I saw a couple years ago–I didn’t buy it because I couldn’t think (at the time) of what I would wear it with, and told myself I had too many clothes anyway. Been kicking myself ever since!
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Dear Tamara,
Ah, I can sure relate to you on the singing thing. God chose NOT to allow me to sing, so I make lots of joyful noise when I sing anyway! A few people in church look at me funny but I just smile.
As far as clothes, yep, there were a few items I passed up too and regretted. Sometimes being a woman just isn’t all that easy!
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Huggzzz Cher…There is something we could do over…lol. We could be sisters:)
As for my daughters stability and amazing common sense way of thinking…I feel I cannot take any credit for that. As I raised 3 boys and grew up with 5 brothers…when it came to a girl…I was lost. I seriously feel that a higher power was watching over her as she soared on auto-pilot:)
A far as my website and the insight I have in regards to the issues women are finally sharing out loud…and the passion that drives me to exceed farther…again it is that higher power:0
What is it they say…’God works in Mysterious ways’..whoever they is
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