Freeing Yourself
from Regret
(Excerpts from the
Chicago Tribune)
“To err is human, to forgive
divine,” wrote English poet Alexander Pope.
When it comes to regret, the person you most often must forgive is
yourself. A recent study from Baylor
University found that making amends with individuals you have wronged increases
your likelihood of self-forgiveness. It
is important to identify how your behaviour escalated out of control,
say “I'm sorry, and keep this lesson in mind.” Most of the regrets tend to be about
relationships, either romantic or familial.
Just the simple act of
acknowledging your regret can start you on a path that is so liberating and
freeing. Remember that many other people
undoubtedly have experienced similar mishaps and moved on with their personal
recognition ~ followed by acknowledgment
to their respondent with apology for these past regrets which will lift the
burden, (whether the recipient accepts the apology or not.)
“Little happens in
a relationship until the individuals
learn to forgive
and learn to trust each other.
(David N. Johnson)
“He Who
Hesitates...is Lost!”
My sister, at age 56 died of an
unsuspected brain hemorrhage She and her husband had two teenagers 15 and
17 years of age. After rising early to
tend to office work re his funeral business, he went to the washroom to shave.
He called into the Master Bedroom to assure she was up, knowing she would
prepare breakfast and have their son and daughter off to school. With no response, he found her sprawled on
the floor. Immediately an ambulance came
and took her to the local hospital in Goderich.
Medical staff diagnosing her coma, forwarded her to Western Hospital
in London, Ontario.
On that Monday morning, I left my
real estate office to meet with Bob at the hospital. My sister remained in
coma-state. We earnestly prayed for her recovery. Three days later, doctors advised us she
would remain “as a vegetable”; we were stunned and shocked ~ making a joint
decision to “pull the life-support-plug on her-never-to-be-continued life”. It
hit us like a “rogue wave”! Bob was in deep remorse, emotionally wrought and
with regret he sobbingly told me there was so much he had wanted to discuss and
apologize to her over situations that they hadn't resolved. “Now she's gone...and it's too late! HOW can I live with this?” He was really lost! For a couple years, he had
appointments with a therapist to mend his broken mind and spirit.
The Three Monkeys
(Thanks to Sherrie
for the significance of this “trio”.)
Originally, this
stemmed from a Japanese adage...depicted with monkeys.
The three monkeys are
Mizaru, covering his eyes who sees no evil.
Kikazaru, covering
his ears, who hears no evil.
Iwazaru, covering his
mouth who speaks no evil.
Sometimes, there is a
fourth monkey depicted with the three others:
Shizaru, symbolizes
the principle of do no evil.
He may be shown,
crossing his arms.
This was intended to say, you
should focus your eyes and heart on doing good and doing no evil. However, in the western world, the saying,
“Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil,” has changed to a different
meaning; used now to describe those who feign ignorance. They pretend to be good by ignoring
the bad. The idea is that if they
“ignore the evil, see no evil,” they will be seen as good people. Often in business, in politics and within
friendships and families...if they ignore a bad situation, they cannot be
criticized for it!
Prayer for the
“Soon-to-be-Retired”
Sketch shows a man so
supplicant on his knees amid much paper money,
looking heaven-ward
through a starry sky that spells D-O-W-N,
he beseeches the
Universe to answer his plea:
Stock market,
stock market I'm down on my knees;
You've got to
recover ~ I'm begging you, please.
I've gotten used
to easy cash;
My wife and I had
quite a stash.
Stock market,
stock market please go higher.
If you crash, we
can never retire!
Trivia
Don’t think too much ~ you’ll
create a problem
that wasn’t even there in the
first place!
Enjoy little things in life
that may or may not matter to others.
Can you get a sunburn even if it's overcast and cool? (3 letters)
What is the capital of Afghanistan? (5 letters)
What was the only thing left in Pandora's box after she
opened it? (4 letters)
Did you know...there is
good reason for people to conserve Fresh Water? Of all the water on Earth, the
life-sustaining resource of Fresh Water makes up about 3% ( much of the water
is in the salty oceans).
Did you know...that Earth
is divided into large regions called biomes within which a certain climate and species exist? Major biomes include tropical
rainforest, desert, grassland, deciduous forest, tundra and taiga…the latter
two exist in our northland.
Did you know...the
Canadian lynx is one of four species of lynx in the world? It lives in Canada and in northern parts of
United States. This cat, a good climber,
has thick paws to help it travel on
snow.
Gretzky Lover: There is a hockey memorabilia collector in
Fort McMurray, Alberta, owning a huge number of Wayne Gretzky items ~ from
hockey sticks to jerseys to skates ~ all worn by the famous NHL player known as
“The Great One.” Shawn Chaulk, who has
collected sports mementos for 20 years started his Gretzky collection quite a
while ago. He's made many friends with
fellow collectors and he even had the opportunity to give a tour of the items
to Gretzky himself. Recently, Chaulk
decided to auction off the memorabilia, and it is likely that he'll be a rich
man afterward. For example, he owns100
hockey sticks...each one worth thousands of dollars.
Why didn't the little girl tell
the doctor that she ate some glue”
Because her lips were sealed.
If chickens rise when the rooster
crows, when do ducks get up? At the
quack of dawn.
Johnny: “Dad, what is influence?” Dad: “It is a thing you think you have, until
you try to use it.”
Merle
Baird-Kerr...compiled July 30, 2014
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