I Can’t Believe I Did That

About this time last year, I got really frustrated about never being able to find a purse big enough to carry all the things I have to carry with me – this included my diabetic kit. So I got this wild idea, why not buy a diaper bag? It certainly would be big enough, not to mention it would have plenty of compartments so I could be better organized. I picked out what I thought was great one. It was brown and green, and it did not have any decorations or words on it that indicated it was a diaper bag. I really thought no one would be able to tell that I was carrying a diaper bag instead of a purse. I was proud of my purchase – at first. After I got it home, I started feeling a little bit of regret about buying it. No matter what I initially thought, and no matter what I put in it, the thing still looked like a diaper bag. Not wanting to admit I had made a mistake when I purchased it, I used it. A few short weeks later I replaced the diaper bag with a purse, and quietly stuck the diaper bag someplace where I did not have to see it. I regretted buying it, and I was relieved when I could hide it away.

Whether it stems from something not working out the way we thought it would, or because of our own poor moral choices, regret is something we all have in common. What sets us apart from one another is how we choose to deal with it. Some of us can appropriately manage our regrets, but then there are quite a few of us who make the mistake of wallowing in regret. Getting bogged down by the should’ve’s, would’ve’s, could’ve’s of our past mistakes prevents us from being able to learn from them, and move past them. I know it would be really nice if we could just throw our mistakes away, but we can’t. Our mistakes are part of who we are.

What we can do to prevent us from getting bogged down by feelings of regret is quietly put our mistakes away somewhere, just like I did with that diaper bag. We should not get rid of them, because there may be a time we may need to call on that experience in order to keep us from making the same mistake again. Or to share our own experience with someone else to prevent them from heading down the road we already traveled.

I believe God wants us to live a full and meaningful life – even if you did buy a stupid diaper bag. Put it away.