regret

Yeh, how's Chicago, good, really? Great. That's great. Yeh, I heard about them, are they good, really? Good. Neat.. I haven't seen anybody good since Marshall Crenshaw...yeh, back then.. yeh, it was kinda fun wasn't it.. yeh.. Oh, you bet I remember.. you were wearing that red sweater and that skirt you stole from your roomate.. yes you did, you stole it, don't lie,... laughter

Yes... I know.. yeh, I remember.. yes.. how is she? Wow, sorry. .. gosh.,, yeh, I know.. she's how old? Wow,.. is your brother there too now? Good, great.. I mean, not great, but good that you can see him and all..

So, yeh, visit... I would love to.. I mean, I got this stuff at work.. and all, but next month, maybe I could drive up.. I mean,.. depending on how she's doing and all that... Right. Oh yeh, right.. I mean I could stay with my cousin... He's in Rockford... that's not too far is it?? No, OK, great.. I mean.. good.. Yes. I know. Yes... I know that too, ... so.. I mean.. yeh, I miss you too. .. No, ... I really couldn't . .. yeh, bad for that.. yeh.. No.. I mean I'm really glad you called.. I was just thinking of you.. maybe ESP or somesuch.. really... I do.. really.. miss you.. I know.. so..OK... thanks again.. thanks for calling...

Good night

dialtone

Regret: The green dress

I used to have a green dress. If fit really well, but I didn't like green. So, I never wore it.

Once I threw it in a bag to give away, and someone picked it out. I said, "oh that green dress, I don't know how it got in there," and then I took it out.
I tried it on, and I've never since seen a dress that fit so well.

I put it back in the closet though, because I remembered that I don't like green. A long time went by and that dress stayed in my closet. I never wore it outside of my room. Finally I decided to give it away.

I miss that dress.
I miss it a lot.

I can't figure out why I got it in my head that I didn't like green. Maybe I only want it because it's gone now.
Perhaps if I had it back it would continue to go unused, unseen, prisoned in my closet. Maybe I'll run across it again someday.

Hopefully, it will still fit.

Some one told me not long ago about something they regretted.  I don't know whether they intended to say what they did or if they were intending to show humility.  Anyway, after spending a little while last week considering what I might regret, I came up with the following:

Regarding what you said to me the other day, do not dwell on the past.  We all have regrets, but no regret, regardless of the words it inspires, can describe or capture the entirety of our past.  Life is a many headed beast/wonder.  Any idea we have about it is but a glimpse of the shadow of one of it's heads.

Because of the nature of our minds, it can be difficult to realize the good when thinking of the bad, but fortunately, this also goes the other way.  In times of good, the bad is but a distant cloud; out of sight and mind unless we look for it.

Is the now not good?  As is everything, the now is dependent arising.  If the past were different, things would not be the way they are; they could be better or worse.  It is impossible to know which, though.

There is no sense in yearning for what might/could have been as that will only result in dissatisfaction and unhappiness.  If, instead, we (1) focus on all that is good and that we have to be thankful for and we (2) live by our own moral/ethical code and act as we believe we ought to, then life is good.

Re*gret" (r?*gr?t"), n [F., fr. regretter. See Regret, ]

1.

Pain of mind on account of something done or experienced in the past, with a wish that it had been different; a looking back with dissatisfaction or with longing; grief; sorrow; especially, a mourning on account of the loss of some joy, advantage, or satisfaction.

Dr. H. More.

What man does not remember with regret the first time he read Robinson Crusoe? Macaulay.

Never any prince expressed a more lively regret for the loss of a servant.

Clarendon.

From its peaceful bosom [the grave] spring none but fond regrets and tender recollections. W. Irving.

2.

Dislike; aversion.

[Obs.]

Dr. H. More.

Syn. -- Grief; concern; sorrow; lamentation; repentance; penitence; self-condemnation. -- Regret, Remorse, Compunction, Contrition, Repentance. Regret does not carry with it the energy of remorse, the sting of compunction, the sacredness of contrition, or the practical character of repentance. We even apply the term regret to circumstance over which we have had no control, as the absence of friends or their loss. When connected with ourselves, it relates rather to unwise acts than to wrong or sinful ones.

C. J. Smith.

 

© Webster 1913.

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Re*gret", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Regretted (-t?d); p. pr. & vb. n. Regretting.] [F. regretter, OF. regreter; L. pref. re- re- + a word of Teutonic origin; cf. Goth. grtan to weep, Icel. grta. See Greet to lament.]

To experience regret on account of; to lose or miss with a sense of regret; to feel sorrow or dissatisfaction on account of (the happening or the loss of something); as, to regret an error; to regret lost opportunities or friends.

Calmly he looked on either life, and here Saw nothing to regret, or there to fear. Pope.

In a few hours they [the Israelites] began to regret their slavery, and to murmur against their leader. Macaulay.

Recruits who regretted the plow from which they had been violently taken. Macaulay.

 

© Webster 1913.