I have lived a life full of many perceived regrets: avoiding discomfort, not facing fears, not taking chances. Fortunately, when I came across the understanding of the Principles and got knocked upside the head with the illusion of all thought, I realized
that all those regrets were made up. And now, much of the time, I can see them simply as choices made (or not made), actions that didn't happen, or simply different actions that happened instead; nothing more, and nothing less. Regret was simply a meaning
I had made out of some "non-experiences" at the time, and continued to label, each time they were re-remembered.
But I saw something a little deeper today.
What if I had done every single thing that was previously
considered as a regret for not doing? What if throughout my life, I had embraced every discomfort, faced every fear, and taken every single chance? How would that make me any different than who I am today, at the very core of my soul?
The
answer is, that it wouldn't. I would still feel like "Jonelle", the same very familiar person who has been along on the ride with me through every second of my experience of life. I would still feel like the the "Jonelle" who is sitting here with me on my
couch writing this note.
It's likely that from the perceived perspective of "doing", or daring to achieve the impossible, I might have had a few more interesting stories to remember and tell. I might have had a wider net of experiences
and people to know. But, whatever I had done, it wouldn't have made me any less or any more than who I already am, who I was when I was born, and who I will be when I die.
Underneath all my experiences (and non-experiences) of life, I
am just the very familiar-to-me, "me". And for today at least, that happens to be wonderfully comforting.
Perhaps you can politely remind me of this, when I forget it all again tomorrow. 😊