Panama isn't completely without regret, though. At the open market where we bought souvenirs, the prices were all negotiable, but the missionary had a friendship and an understanding with most of the people, so he told us not to haggle too much, because the people did have to make a living. What my husband heard: don't haggle, period. I think most of what we bought, we paid a fair price.
This frog will sit on my shelf and look pretty, just like my Mexican dress hangs in my closet. They don't do anything, and they're not really good for anything. Except now there are two mistakes I won't ever make again.
Okay, so how shallow and materialistic is it to have a post about regrets and only talk about my souvenir-buying goof-ups? As hard as it is to tell anyone any kind of regret, talking about heart issues is so much harder than admitting I spent too much money on a trinket. But here goes anyway.
In real life, I think if you could put a monetary value on my regrets, it would come to a lot more than what I paid for a dress and a carved nut.
I regret wearing my emotions on my sleeve in high school, but after much soul-searching I think I did a pretty good job of learning from that and being more matter-of-fact at my ten year reunion.
I regret losing my friends in college when I got engaged, but I'm still working on changing what I did, because I don't think it was all my fault.
After difficult conversations, I always regret NOT saying something, because when I get nervous and frustrated, I clam up. I would like to think I'm learning, but a couple weeks ago I had a difficult conversation and, like before, I didn't say anything, and when I finally did talk, I didn't say nearly what I wish I had said. My dear husband says I'm getting better at speaking my mind (who would have ever thought that would be something a female had to work on!). I think I am getting better with him, mostly because I'm not afraid of hurting his feelings or of him getting mad at me anymore. I just need to work on telling other people what I think.
So, there's my three biggest regrets. One I've learned from. One I am in the process of learning from. And one that might just plague me until I die. But then I'll be in Heaven, so I won't have to worry about it anymore. :-)