Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda

I love this quote.  How about you?  Does it empower you a little? It makes me take a deep breath and say....I can do this.

But what about the stuff in the past?  The stuff we can't do over?  The.."I should have done that differently"...or the "I wish I..."

Should have.  These two words are often linked to another single word.

Regret.

So what do we do when we become paralyzed by the past?  Did you ever have a really bad dream, and in the dream you find that you can't run?  You can't move?  At all!  Whatever it is you're running from is getting closer and closer....but you're going nowhere.

Stuck.

This is another little sign I love so much.  It reminds me that when I start to feel this way I have something very important to fall back to.

Faith.

And...someone very important to fall back on

God.

And what I start to realize is....faith is all about moving forward.  It's about forgiveness and trying again.  It's about looking to the future with HOPE and TRUST.

It's not about looking back with regret.

It's not about being 'stuck' or 'paralyzed'

GROWTH.

Last night my husband and I watched the movie Courageous.

This was an amazing movie.  Both of us were in TEARS one minute...and laughing the next.  It's an amazing story about, family, faith, loss, courage and ....regret.

It moved me so much.  The shoulda, woulda, coulda's we go through with our family.

Am I a good mom?  

Am I doing enough?

Am I giving my family what they need?

Do I appreciate?

Am I thankful?

The list could go on and on...but I'm one of those people who fears regret.  To me it seems to hide in the corners of my life making me second guess so much that I do, say and feel.

I believe my own personal battle with regret comes from losing my mother at a young age.  You learn all too soon that the people you love can be gone in an instant.  

This can be a good thing because you do tend to pay attention a little more.....but if you're not careful you can become all absorbed in thinking all that you do is never enough.

This movie reminded me again...that life is oh so short 

and oh so precious.

Be the best of who you are

But...when you make a mistake....and we ALL do. 

 Move forward in FAITH.  

And if you haven't seen this movie....it's a great one to help bring your family a little bit closer!

Patti