No Room for Regret

I came across this "post" I had written on notebook paper while I was on vacation this summer that I had forgotten about. Better late than never to get it on the blog.

I woke up early this morning.  So early that it was still dark outside. I laid in bed and thought about walking down to the beach to see the sunrise, but by the time I finally convinced myself to get up and do it, the sun was already up.  Knowing I'd probably missed the best part, I headed  down to the beach anyway.  And I got a couple of good pics--including this one (which, yes, I did doctor in instagram to make it more dramatic, but isn't it worth it???)    

The moment my feet touched sand, rain started falling. I waited for a moment--hoping it would pass--but the sprinkles turned into big raindrops--complete with lightning--so I left and headed back to our home for the week.

Walking back, I started to think about how quickly our perspective changes.   Before I went to bed the night before, I noticed that I had a slight sunburn--as did both of my girls.  I wondered if we should stay inside today and take it easy--after all, we still had 3 more beach days. Wouldn't it be good to hang out at the house for a day?  The rain confirmed my plans for the day, but I was sad.

The rain reminded me that life is not always filled with sunny beach days, so we should grab them when they come and wring every bit of fun out of them that we can.  We should take our naps in a chair by the ocean rather than in a bed. We should bring snacks so we don't have to go back for lunch. We should enjoy every bit of the sand--no matter where it winds up.

And I learned: To live fully on the sunny days leaves no room for regret on the rainy ones.