Regrets

Text chatting with an old buddy the other day, and he jokingly asked if I regretted my choice of not joining him at his college.

I most certainly do not regret my college choice, Gannon’s University was a great experience and I made great friends.

Had a tremendous time, and made hundreds of memories, but I had a thought:

There are a lot of 60+ people out there who live their lives out, buried in regret.

What do I regret?

1). I regret not buying an acre of land when I lived in Mountain View, California.

2). I regret not seeing Billy Joel and Bob Seger. I had shots at seeing both of them, but didn’t. I also had a chance to see Frank Sinatra in the 80’s and didn’t take it because I thought he was lame.

I was the lame one.

3). I regret not continuing to pay my Union Dues for one more year. I was a Union laborer for 9 years. My Dad told me to keep paying the dues through the 10th year because I’d be eligible for a pension.

Blew that one.

4). There are a number of girls that I knew through the years. Things don’t always work out. There were a few regrets along the way, but I maintained friendships with most of them, so no regrets.

Not every decision or choice was the best one.

Failure is part of life.

There were roads not taken.

What might have happened had I stayed in Erie, or San Francisco, or New Haven, or San Jose, or Baltimore?

All fine places, but I’d have lived my life with different people.

And I imagine that I probably wouldn’t have regretted any of it.

Being regretful is a waste of time.