Things I don't regret

My friend and Sunday running buddy Sid, often quotes this entire essay from memory.    I think it has a good message.

THE STATION

By Robert J. Hastings

   TUCKED AWAY in our subconscious minds is an idyllic vision.  We see ourselves on a long, long trip that almost spans the continent.  We're traveling by passenger train, and out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls, of biting winter and blazing summer and cavorting spring and docile fall.
     But uppermost in our minds is the final destination.  On a certain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station.  There will be bands playing and flags waving.  And once we get there so many wonderful dreams will come true.  So many wishes will be fulfilled and so many pieces of our lives finally will be neatly fitted together like a completed jigsaw puzzle.  How restlessly we pace the aisles, damming the minutes for loitering, waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.
     However, sooner or later we must realize there is no one station, no one place to arrive at once and for all.  The true joy of life is the trip.  The station is only a dream.  It constantly outdistances us.
     When we get to the station that will be it!" we cry.  Translated it means, "When I'm 18 that will be it!  When I buy a new 450 SL Mercedes Benz, that will be it!  When I put the last kid through college that will be it!  When I have paid off the mortgage that will be it!  When I win a promotion that will be it!  When I reach the age of retirement that will be it!  I shall live happily ever after!"
     Unfortunately, once we get "it," then "it" disappears.  The station somehow hides itself at the end of an endless track.
     "Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24: "This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it."  It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad.  Rather, it is regret over yesterday or fear of tomorrow.  Regret and fear are twin thieves who would rob us of today.
     So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles.  Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more and cry less.  Life must be lived as we go along.  The station will come soon enough.

(This version of "The Station" made its first debut in Ann Landers' Column on May 17, 1981.)

We shouldn't look back but who can resist?  When I do look through the rear window, here are some things (not a complete list) I will never regret.

1.  Not getting my kids a nintendo.
2.  Smoking pot in college - that was fun, no one got hurt, and who knew I could eat so many donuts in one setting.  And oh yes....I inhaled.
3.  Loving people too much.
4.  Trusting people too much.
5.  Having dogs even though the pain of losing them is always hard.
6.  Having old people as friends - having good friends in general...the pain of losing them is also hard.
7.  Loving the staff I worked with - being interested in their lives and helping to make them better nurses and better people.
8.  Not sending my kids to preschool. I mean, one of them is a doctor and two of them own their own business....so I guess not going to preschool did not hurt them. 
9.  Marrying Bruce - even though he doesn't like to talk.
10.  Voting for Obama - that's as political as I am going to get.  He isn't perfect, but what president is?
11.  My neck - yeah I know Nora Ephron really really regretted hers.
12.  Growing up in a small town in the 60's and visiting it every chance I get.
13.  Having red hair
14.  Having children
15.  Buying Christmas themed flannel sheets at Christmas time....and getting my kids new Christmas PJ's every year even though they are grown up.

Oh and finally I don't regret running in the snow today.