Or not.
In the last few months, I’ve found myself in a slump. Corona, negative news headlines, and life, in general, have me feeling rather negative and focusing on the bad more than the good. I’m pretty sure at least 89% of the world’s population (more in here in the US) can relate.
2020 has been exhausting.
In an attempt to combat the endless cycle of crap emotions, I downloaded a bunch of apps on my phone to give me inspiration and the encouragement I need to avoid day drinking. Just kidding.
Maybe…
Anywho…
Today I woke up to this one:
“In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take.”
While I can see the obvious meaning behind this oh-so-wise life advice, I found my negative brain saying, um… but wait…
There are lots of things I regret. I regret not telling that rude customer where to shove it. I regret not buying that package of cookies because when I went shopping the other day, I was on a health kick, and now snack-mouth me wants some damn cookies. So basically, yeah, life has a way of forcing choices whether you’re prepared, or hell, maybe ALLOWED to make them or not.
Seriously, I regret not getting those cookies…
Of course, I’m being silly with my examples but you get what I mean. Sometimes we have no choice but to make choices we don’t really want, or in the context of the quote, NOT take those CHANCES.
Because if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that life can sometimes be an endless shit-show.
We can talk about fear, lack of a spine, or whatever nonsense, to justify the fact that we didn’t TAKE THE CHANCE because that’s what the quote is talking about, right?
But is it?
Or is this another example of the internet inspiration gurus merely trying to get attention by discarding people who, simply put, don’t have the opportunity to take risky chances?
BUT READ THE QUOTE, FANNY!
Yeah, yeah, I did.
There are chances that sometimes one cannot risk. Like changing jobs in the middle of a pandemic (eh-hum, ME) or starting a business, or those other big life choices outside of getting married. Big chances involve high amounts of risk, and let’s face it, single moms (and dad’s and other people in difficult situations) everywhere would love to, but…
There is too much at stake.
Too much to risk for those who are those struggling to pay the rent or care for their elderly parents.
Sometimes, taking chances is not in the cards, and the regret isn’t that we didn’t take those chances, but rather the regret lies in the awful fact that some are never given the opportunity to risk it all.
fannyleesavage.com 