No Regrets

I could have...I should have...I would have...But I didn't.


When I was in high school, I had to work very hard for my grades in math and the sciences. No grade ever came easy. During those years, I dreamed of going to med school to become a pediatrician. One of my science teachers at the time said "Cigal, think of another option for yourself. You'll never make it to med school". Being a young, impressionable and very motivated student, she convinced me that it was useless to even try...

Instead I went on to do a Bachelor of Education, a Masters' in Educational Psychology and a Post Graduate Certificate in Family Systems Therapy. Years later, I thought about that phrase many a time:"You'll never make it to med school". Knowing what I know now, that teacher should have chosen a different career for herself. Educating young and impressionable minds means encouraging...It means pushing them to be the best they can be...It means helping them to achieve their goals and dreams...Sometimes I think that I should have tried to get into med school despite what she said...That I could have made it in with hard work, dedication and commitment...That I would have proven her wrong about my ability to fulfill my dreams...

But then I think about the life I've created for myself and the various stepping stones that brought me to where I am today and I know without a shadow of a doubt that I have been on the exact path that I was made to be on.  Some would accuse that teacher of crushing my dreams and causing me to give up my aspirations for nothing. Some would wish that she had been fired and sent to work on a farm instead of in a school. Years ago, I might have agreed with them. I might have had tremendous feelings of resentment and bitterness towards that teacher, but not anymore. Now I just feel sorry for her. Sorry that she couldn't find it in her heart to cheer me on and root for me. Sorry that instead of encouraging me or offering to help me improve my math and science skills, she chose the easier route for herself.

Having taught in a residential treatment center for kids with behavioural and emotional problems, I know what being a teacher really means. It means not just HEARING your students, but really LISTENING to them. Helping them to reach for the stars. Inspiring them to find all the good and wonder that lies within them. Encouraging them to make choices that they can later be proud of and ensuring that once they make those choices, there will be no looking back and no regrets.

I am a strong believer in living a life of no regrets. Regrets are feelings of disappointment or distress about something that one wishes could be different. Why waste my thoughts on what I could have, should have or would have done, when I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, doing exactly what it is I'm supposed to be doing?

With Love,
Cigal