No going back, only starting over, as many times as it takes

(There was a live version of this but I prefer the harmonies on the original.  Plus, I am so glad not to have been a rock star, now having to look at all those young photos of myself.)

Regret may be inescapable, still we don't have to let it hang around and make us twinge like a bad sunburn.  If we could have done it better, done it differently, we would have.  We can only use the skills we possess.

"If only" is a phrase that permits us to commit emotional violence upon ourselves.  As with much or all of this life, balance is a crucial element.  How to own our mistakes without having them become eternal hair shirts, siphoning joy out of every present moment, forever paying on a debt that never grows smaller.  My guess is this is only accomplished through forgiveness, no easy task, perhaps there is none harder.  Ebenezer Scrooge seemed capable of making up for lost time.  I'm not sure that is a choice always available to the rest of us.  We must simply start over where we are, let go as best we can of what can't be undone and grow very familiar with compassion toward human behavior, starting with our own.