What do you do when you know something is wrong? What do you do when you see or witness something that you know in your heart just should not be ? What in creation can we do? What does God expect of us when we see something happening or about to happen and we have the power to stop it?  Do we stand by silent, or do we stand and voice ourselves?  Do we stop what we know to be wrong, or do we sit silently and as the years go by yearn for what might have, could have, should have been or what we might, could, and should have done? Do we stand and fight for what is right, or do we sit out of fear of losing that which we hold most dear? Do we get involved and stop what we know to be wrong, or do we sit and spend year after year having regrets for not taking action?

I try to live my life without regret. I try (the key word in that statement is try), I try very hard to do what I would consider “the right thing.”  I do have one regret, and that is what spawned this posting. The time when I could have stood up, had my voice be heard, stopped something I knew down to my toes was wrong … I didn’t.  Instead, I was a coward, and I stayed put, not muttering a word. Yes, I said coward.  That is what I was –  plain and simple, a coward.

I have faced my own mortality on more then one occasion, looked death in the face and said, “Let’s dance, you and I.”   I have stood up to prominent physicians, at the risk of not only my job but reputation. Why this one time … this ONE time in my life when I could have stopped something that i knew was wrong on every level … why did I sit on my hands and let the universe go out of balance?

My ancestors called out to me and urged me to have the courage to do what my heart told me was the right thing, regardless of the potential personal loss. To this day, it is my one regret.  It was a mistake I feel everyday of my life.

I look back with tear filled eyes, saying, “If only” … if only I had the courage … if only I had the strength … this one time!

There are times in our lives that we have to make a choice. The right thing may bring personal hardship, loss and emotional pain. The easy road is just that, the easy way out. But is the lingering pain of regret worse? For me, it is.

The saying around now-a-days is “YOLO” meaning You Only Live Once.  A very wise and caring person once wrote to me and said, “We are not guaranteed another day.” Life is short. You shouldn’t spend it with regret or plural … regrets. Live it to the fullest, let yourself be loved by those who have it to give to you. Discard those who would use you or take you for granted.

If only you have the strength, if only.

When that time comes in life when a choice is to be made, what will you do?  Will you look down the easy path, or will you draw your sword and charge down that path of hardship because your heart says, “That’s the way to go!”?

If I could go back in time and correct a mistake I made, I would do so without hesitation. Ah, but alas, we cannot go back, only forward.

Learn from yesterday, plan for tomorrow, and live for today.

I live with my regret and touch it daily.  I pay for it with tears and a shattered heart. If I have learned anything from my yesterday, I will not be sitting down anymore. No, not any more. I have my feet firmly planted in the ground. I don’t know what the path in front of me will bring. I only know that I haven’t fought this hard to be IN this life to stay sitting any longer. So I say, “Look out world, the wolf is off the chain.”

I may have regrets but realize there is nothing I can do about the past.   However, please know that I am not letting it govern me. I am proud of all of my scars. They prove that I have fought and fought hard, which is something that I will continue to do.

So, to life I say, “Bring it!  I’m up off the ground and will never go down again!”

And so to the question, “Stand or sit?”  I now say to life’s challenges, “Let’s dance … you and I.”

The right way is not always the popular and easy way.  Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character– Margaret Chase Smith