Lifetime Regrets

 

Regrets, I've had a few; but then again, too few to mention ...

 

We have all had our fair share of regrets in life. Things we did, or did not do, or things that happened to us and left a mark or a memory in our lives. Hopefully we have learnt from the experience and moved on. But what about when something happens which results in a life-changing experience? You can regret as much as you want but what has happened has happened.

 

This happened to me many years ago. I was on holiday with a group of people in the Lake District and we lived in tents overnight. 

 

One morning I got up early before everyone else, and without telling anyone I went for a walk. I went up this hill and kept walking. It was a nice sunny morning at about 6:00am with a fresh breeze every now and then. I kept walking and going higher and higher. Pretty soon I was on top of the world. I could see the lakes and other mountain tops in the distance and the tent camp down there was nowhere to be seen.

 

It was a stupid and foolhardy thing to do. If I'd slipped and got hurt no one would find me.

 

But I did something more stupid than that. Something I regret to this day.

 

There was a small stream nearby. Water was trickling down the mountain and passing by me a few feet away. I put my hand in the water and drank a little bit. No more than a couple of spoons. It was cold and fresh. I thought nothing of it.

 

Days later, when we all got back home, I noticed one of my ears was itching a bit. I ignored it. The itch continued for a few days. I noticed whilst looking at the mirror that the ear was a little red and seemed slightly bigger in size.

 

I kept looking at the mirror daily. Sometimes more that once a day. The redness had gone, and also the itch. But the ear seemed to be growing. Or was it my imagination?

 

Eventually, I went to see the doctor. He humoured me and said peoples' ears do grow bigger as they get older. I challenged him and said surely both would grow bigger at the same rate. He said not always. 

 

I ignored the doctor and in time I ignored the ear growing too. Another thing I regret.

 

Have you noticed that I never post photos of myself on this Blog or on social media?

 

I now have an ear measuring six inches from top to bottom. Yes - six inches. The other two are much bigger than that!

THE FINAL FRONT EAR 

 

Regrets? I wish I had not eaten that ...

Sometimes in life a song, or a photo from years gone by takes you back many years as you remember different times, different places, different people, and different chocolates even.

It is called nostalgia. Not the chocolate ... the taking your mind back to bygone times. Are you paying attention? Stop thinking of chocolates for a while.

As I was saying; nostalgia isn't what it used to be. In olden times nostalgia took you back to your childhood, to your school days, friends and so on. But as you get older, nostalgia becomes trying to remember what you had for breakfast!  

Anyway, there I was in the garden with this contraption gifted to me. It is the size of a matchbox and it has on it many songs you can hear on speakers or earphones. 

And a song from the past came on. It triggered memories of people I knew then. Things that happened then. Things I cannot change now. Nor make amends.

I doubt many of you are old enough to remember the song. Although it has been re-recorded several times by different artists. My readers are typically young and would only remember songs from the 60s or 70s. 

Well, this song was about regrets, of which I have a few, but then again too few to mention ... ... ...

I hate plagiarism, don't you? I long for the day when there is no more plagiarism in the world. You, may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one. I hope someday you will join us. And the world will be as one ... no plagiarism any more.

The memories from the past and the regrets came flooding back as I sat down on the bench crying my heart out.

It was then I realised that someone had left a tray of cacti on the bench!

Regrets

Non, rien de rien. Non. Je ne regrette rien.

Do you remember this famous song by the French singer Edith Piaf? Or the more familiar lyrics of Frank Sinatra singing:

Regrets, I’ve had a few. But then again, too few to mention.

To have no regrets could be a sign of arrogance. We all have some regrets of things we have done, or not done. The wise thing to do is to learn from one’s regrets.

The one thing I regret in life is kissing a hedgehog. It happened a long time ago when I was in Scotland. I was waiting in the countryside for some friends we planned to go camping together when out of the bushes came this little hedgehog. He was small and tiny and cute and a baby hedgehog. I remembered the story that if you kiss a hedgehog it would turn into a prince, or in this case, hopefully a princess. So I picked him up and as I was about to kiss him/her he/she curled into a ball and one of its needles broke and cut my lip.

I quickly ran to the nearest vet and he gave me various injections in case the cut got infected. He then put a cone-shaped collar round my neck to stop me scratching the cut.

I deeply regret that episode in my life.

I learnt later that it is a frog you are supposed to kiss to turn it into a prince or princess; and not a hedgehog. So I regretted that incident even more.

What do you regret in your life?