“Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.” ― poem by Mary Jean Irion*
When I hear people proclaim the motto “no regrets,” I can’t help thinking that it’s a little prideful, short-sighted, and disingenuous.
I’m not advocating for living life on the bench, or engaging in some sort of flagellation that leaves not only the body, but the soul with real wounds. And I appreciate the zealousness of trying to live life with vigor and intent.
But I think a healthy dose of introspection, when it comes to our mistakes, can also be enlightening.
Last night, as I realized that it’s been almost a year since we left our life in China, all I could think is if I had it to do over again, I would have spent more time at the feet of the foster mothers, hearing the trials of their lives during the Cultural Revolution, the story of each baby they’d raised, and their fears about the future.
I wish I’d looked out the window more often at those soaring karst peaks and endless fields of green rice paddies, because who knows when I’ll see them again?
I wish I’d accepted every invitation to a bowl of rice noodles, a strange feast of chicken feet, or a home out in the countryside without running water or electricity. It was in these places that I saw life lived with an irrepressible human spirit…and ate some of the best dumplings of my life.
I wish I’d told my friends all my fears and hopes and dreams, because I treasure the secrets they shared with me. I recall them and revisit them like precious gems when I miss their friendship and their confidence.
I wish I’d made far more trips to the market, taken many more jogs around South Lake, and sat many more hours peering into the square from our balcony, and all despite the sticky heat.
In short, I wish I’d slowed down to only love the people in front of me and nothing more. I wish I’d treasured the normal days, for one knows not how many there will be. I wish I’d known how extraordinary China and its people were before I left it.
One might call them regrets.
But I’m also left with gratitude for the simple joys God afforded me while I was there and some wisdom for living this life tomorrow.
*Special thanks to my friend, Kate, for posting this poem the other day.
**Bottom three photos by Evan Schneider.**
little sacred space 