No Regrets

I've often heard the advice given that you should try to live your life in such a way that you can look back and have no regrets. As I look back on my life, I would like to say that, when it comes to things that are important, I have followed this advice. I don't have any regrets about any major decisions I have made.

I am not sure what the earliest important decision I ever made was. Perhaps it was becoming friends with a boy in my kindergarten class. We were in the same class from kindergarten through third grade. I believe we were in the same class in fifth grade, as well. And we had most of the same classes from 6th grade on through high school. We went through some rough patches, and there was a good three-year period in which we were more associates than friends (at least from my point of view) but, all these years later, we are still friends. And our friendship shaped our friendships with others.

Baptism was definitely an important decision, and it is one I will never regret. Being baptised and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints set me firmly on a path that has brought about only good in my life. Friendships, learning, teaching, personal growth, and an understanding of myself and of God's plan for me have all been a result of this decision I made when I was eight years old.

I don't regret participating in a single extracurricular activity in school. I do regret not being able to do more than I did, but I did as much as I could. I have had opportunities to discover and develop many interests and hobbies that I still follow today. There is an old saying, often spoken in a disparaging way, that proclaims, "Those who can't, teach." I will be forever glad that I actually read one of the required books for my education courses at the U of Illinois, "Educating Esme", because, at the end of this book, Esme explains that this saying is true. I am interested in everything, but I know that I really can't do it all. So I will teach others who will. However, this isn't going to stop me from doing as much as I can as often as I can. Extracurriculars taught me that.

Attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was absolutely the right thing for me to do. If I had not done this, I would never have met the awesome people I now know in and around the Champaign-Urbana area. I would never have traveled to Australia for five and a half months to study as part of an exchange program. I would never have met, let alone married, Gretch. I would never have started working for Simply Spotless, Inc. as a summer job, only to find myself the owner of the company a year later. Some may argue that none of these statements are absolutes, but I am fairly confident in making them.

The list goes on and on and on. I do admit to at least one regret, though. I regret not making a certain purchase when I had the opportunity. In fact, this missed opportunity was the inspiration for this post. I am glad that I at least snapped a picture of the potential purchase, though. I am also glad that, in the hierarchy of life decisions, this is pretty close to the bottom. But I regret, nonetheless, not purchasing a Little Dreams Baby Doll from the Champaign Wal-Mart on 20 December 2008. Why? Look closely at this picture.

Yes, dear friends and family, that is a baby doll with a plastic bag over its head. Some opportunities should never be missed. May we all seek to live our lives with no regrets!