Stained

Sometimes life brings us something that we can't seem to get rid of. It's a lot like having a stain on a shirt that we really like to wear. The stain won't come out. So we relegate the shirt to the "only on weekends" or "only after hours" category. But, we still wear the shirt, and every time we do, the we are reminded of the incident that caused us not to wear the shirt as a first run shirt any longer.

I hope I am not alone in remembering the one blot in life that doesn't go away and causes great regret and constant thought. Just like no amount of spot remover will completely take out the stain from the shirt, so life seems to embed the regret so that no amount of goodwill can remove, undo, or even come close to combating the events that would explode upon any attempt at removing the regret.

If you want to say that forgiveness helps, you would be right. But, I am talking about the regret that comes after the forgiveness has been obtained. It's that lingering stain on the shirt. All the time. Especially when I wear it after hours and on weekends. But, I like the shirt. Perhaps, there will be a time to move beyond the stain, get another weekend shirt.

In the meantime, all I ever hear myself saying is, "I'm sorry."