The Taste of Regret

Ecclesiastes 3:1 To everything there is a season and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven. (AMP)My conservative sister-in-law, who never spends a dime foolishly, shocked me on a trip to Hawaii, when she spent ten dollars to "open an oyster in search of a pearl." The oyster had a pearl, a black one, just as she'd been assured. Before we knew what was happening, she had spent a hundred dollars having the pearl set and mounted and put on a chain to wear as a necklace. Her only comment to my gentle teasing through the years has been "opening an oyster in search of a pearl has always been something I've wanted to do. I have no regrets."

On a trip to Europe last year, I found out what she meant. Our tour visited the Swarovski Crystal Factory in Innsbruck, Austria. I saw a crystal cross I loved. "Buy it", my husband encouraged me.

Still upset over the price of a musical program the evening before, I refused. I left the store feeling deprived. I'm not a great jewelry lover, but this was more than jewelry--it was a souvenir, something to mark a special moment in time, a special place in the world to which I'd never return.

That little crystal cross still haunts my memories. It screamsWHY in the silences of my deeper self. It turns what could have been a beautiful memory into regret.

The moral of this story is: just as Ecclesiastes told us long ago--"to everything there is a season and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven." There is a time to be extravagant--to open the oysters of our longing in search of black pearls. We need to buy a crystal cross sometimes just because we want it--not because of need--but because these moments are the ones that make life worthwhile. These moments are not premeditated or analyzed. These are the moments when one acts in complete abandonment of practicality and seizes their dreams, their hearts desires. These are the moments that make life worth living.

How many times do we fail to grasp the moment? In the twinkling of an eye or in the making of an instant decision, we determine our future.The time for doing something passes and we live with the regret.

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Contributed by Ivie Bozeman
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