While it seems like such a cliche resolution and, frankly, kind of a cop out. I'd like to stress what I would define as a regret.
Earlier in 2011, I went through a break up with my boyfriend of two years. (We'll cite irreconcilable differences on that one.) Today, we did our final "stuff" exchange typical of an ended relationship. Today, I reclaimed my digital files from his computer.
When I returned home to my apartment, I had the sudden urge to look through all these digital memories I had seemingly forgotten to copy to my own computer months ago.
It was there, nestled among hundreds of files I had yet to search through, that I found the video.
We're going to remain cryptic here for a moment. All you need to know is that this video involves a slightly inebriated me, a tribute to a fantastically bad YouTube video, and a famous Hannah Montana song. Keep in mind that the drink of the evening was tequila and you can fill in the blanks with me as I label this horrendous tape a regret.
Which got me thinking: what is the difference between a mistake and a regret? And shouldn't I know the difference if this year I was planning to rid regret from my vocabulary and my calendar?
Regrets and Mistakes are all about choices made and choices we could have made. When we choose something over another we may eventually label that choice as a mistake and regret it. We decide for ourselves only after experience. So how, without experience, could I rid myself of regret.
The truth is, I honestly can't. There will always be roads I wont take this year, choices I decide on over another. But in order to keep my resolution, I must find the positive in all I choose. I must not label those things a mistake, only then will I avoid regret.
Looking back on the night I made that video, I should have known tequila and a video camera were a poor combination. But now, having found it, I know that my dance skills and some laughter are undoubtedly the perfect concoction for making someone's day brighter.
And if I'm going to live my life without regret from this day forward, when I look back on the things that I've done, I shouldn't regret a single one.
So at great risk of my coolness, (Who am I kidding), Here is the video. No longer a regret, but a lesson: never mix tequila and digital media again.
Here's to 2012, to a year with no regrets, no mistakes. After all, mistakes are just decisions I've made. And if I've made the same mistakes again, they are merely choices.
What are your resolutions for 2012? Leave them in the comments!
Thanks for looking!