regret

According to the Lion Chaser ... there are two kinds of regret:

the regret of action - doing something you wish you hadn't done AND
the regret of inaction - not doing something you wish you had done.

In the short term, action regrets outnumber inaction regrets by a small percentage.  I can see that.  In any given day, I probably regret more a snippy response to someone or a poor lunch choice that I regret something I didn't do.  But in the longterm, inaction regrets outnumber action regrets 84% to 16%.  WOW!  It's those inaction regrets that haunt us ... the trip we never took, the job change we never made, the phone calls we didn't return, the relationships we didn't foster, the risks we avoided ...the lion we didn't chase.

German author Johann Wolfgang puts it this way ...
"Hell begins the day God grants you the vision to see all that you could have done, should have done, and would have done, but did not do."

Have you ever thought about the fact that the other disciples COULD have walked on water if they had gotten out of the boat?

It's scary to take risks.  It takes intentionality to live life well.  A lot of my regrets of inaction come not from fear, but from laziness or comfort ... I just didn't act on something that I could or should have.

I've had lots of conversations with students the last week or so about taking risks .. putting a toe in the water, stepping out, just trying ... the only way to ensure that you don't get an opportunity is to not put your name in the hat.

I don't want to get to the end of my life and WISH I had done more or done differently.  Don't want to get to the end of the year and wish the same.  For tonight, I'm going to count my gifts and not my regrets.

274. traveling around the world to share the hope we have in Christ ... and using medicine to do it
275. riding a train across Kazakhstan
276. Standing at Vic Falls
277. sleeping in a tent in Nicaragua
278. celebrating easter sunrise on a beach in Mexico
279. sharing missions with students
280. taking the time to rest
281. talking to family
282. planning a vacation to CO with the fam
283. making a homemade cake
284. listening to a crackling fire
285. shopping for birthday and wedding and baby gifts ... and wrapping them up to look pretty
286. sending care packages
287. taking a friend to lunch for her birthday
288. having a clean house
289. listnening to the heater kick on and feeling its first warm puffs
290. being a nurse .... and the lives i've gotten to be a part of
291. going to seminary and the sweet time that was
292. making new friends ... and treasuring the old
293. a friend who left a 12 pack of diet coke for me today
294. having a home ... or two
295. the blessing of knowing all of my grandparents ... and the joy of still having one!
296. having a family of friends here
297. reading magazines and tearing out recipes
298. being open to change ... and acting on it as far as it depends on me
299. friends having babies
300. going to New Orleans with 100 college kids next week... and still breathing.