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Post Info TOPIC: Regret is an appalling waste of energy


MIP Old Timer

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Regret is an appalling waste of energy
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Today's thought from Hazelden is:

Regret is an appalling waste of energy, you can't build on it: it's only good for wallowing in.
--Katherine Mansfield

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Someone I hoped would be an important part of my life for years to come has left. I'm devastated. I don't know how much of what happened is my fault; I keep thinking, "If only I hadn't said what I said . . . "

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Human lives are filled with all kinds of separation. Friends, mates, and family members - the people in our lives are only lent to us. If they accompany us for some part of our journey, we're blessed. We don't get to control or keep them.

Sentences beginning "if only" can go nowhere but straight to regret. They support our false belief that we can control what happens in other people's lives. "I should have," "I could have," and "I would have" are all variations on the same theme. They postpone acceptance and necessary grieving.

At times it's we, ourselves, who do the leaving. We can count it a success, not a failure, when we've had the courage to acknowledge the truth of an ending.

Today, though I may go through some pain as I learn acceptance, I rejoice in the strength and clarity it gives me.



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MIP Old Timer

Status: Offline
Posts: 1683
Date:
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At times it's we, ourselves, who do the leaving. We can count it a success, not a failure, when we've had the courage to acknowledge the truth of an ending.

Today, though I may go through some pain as I learn acceptance, I rejoice in the strength and clarity it gives me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Holy Moley,
Being that I am in the midst of a separation and soon a divorce, this wise meditation has been a blessing and a gift today, and one that I am firing up the printer for right now.

We both want this. But regret still tries to slip in on my end. And that is precisely the time that I can yank this one out of my purse or glovebox.

Thanks for posting it Larry.



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~Your Higher Power has not given you a longing to do
that which you have no ability to do.
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