I do have regrets. When I was younger, arrogance coupled with a sharp tongue hurt people. It has only been in recent years that I have learned what it means to value relationships with family and friends alike. I would like to go back and raise my children again. I made quite an array of mistakes as a father. I am pretty eager to apologize to them at this stage in parenting. As I get older, my awareness of the accumulation of bad judgment calls grows.

I do have regrets. Why don’t others?  The truth is: they had regrets too….How did their regrets get placed in the past tense? Something must have changed. Here is what happened…. Their disappointments in themselves were put in their proper place. They took their accumulation of bad judgment calls and locked it up in a storage shed of forgiveness. The shed can be likened to The Hotel California. The said accumulation can check in, but can never check out. Why do most of us fail to dump the junk from our past in that shed?

I do have regrets.  What is holding up my trip to the shed? I actually know what has happened. I have erroneously concluded on my dark days that forgiveness is for everyone but me. That is faulty thinking. It is scary. It is crippling.  And it does not help me to serve fellow travelers on their journey to release what has accumulated in their heart.

I do have regrets. But I am making regular trips to the shed these days. I affirm that those excursions are not made alone.  I believe an all powerful Creator and Sustainer continues to provide forgiveness. He locks the shed up and blocks access once we dump our junk.

One day I will tell someone that I have no regrets.  And they may very well scratch their head. They may wonder why they are dragging so much accumulated baggage. I will speak of The Hotel California…And they will look at me like I am crazy. I will still be as crazy as always, but I will have no regrets.