A Tale of Regret

    Everyone, at some point in their lives, ends up feeling guilty, or regretting a decision they've made. A time when the outcome wasn't what you had hoped, or ended badly. It's easy to hold those moments and carry them with us, feeling shame. A weight, like trying to drag a massive rock with you wherever you go. 

     Owning up to your mistakes is one thing, but when you carry them with you, they become an anchor.

Let me tell you a Story... 

    There once lived two brothers. They were very close. Samuel was the eldest. Saul was the younger. They lived together in a cottage in a forest of gemstones, with their parents, Matthias and Sarah. 

    Each day the boys would go out. They would tend to their small farm and do their chores, but in their free time they would find ways to cause mischief. They would run about the forest, hiding laundry hanging to dry, pranking other villagers, and just causing general mayhem. These were written off as boyish behavior, and was generally laughed off or caused quiet seething in their neighbors. Samuel and Saul were inseparable, and would often play in the wood. 

      And then one day, as things tend to every so often, things seemed to fall apart. Saul made a bet with Samuel, that he could climb the tallest tree in the forest, and reach the top before him. Samuel, who never turned down a challenge, agreed. The two brothers began to climb. They climbed as quickly as they could. Until... A branch broke and Samuel fell. 

     Saul, triumphantly reached the top of the tree, but his smile broke when he looked down to see the broken remains of his brother, on the forest floor. Samuel was buried there, at the base of that tree. The gravestone read, "Here Lies Samuel, Fallen, But Never Forgotten." 

      Saul blamed himself for his brother's death. No longer was he a happy, carefree, mischievous youth. The fire had gone out of him. 

     Saul spoke to no one. He did the farmwork, his chores, and chores that his brother would've done. He closed himself off to the world. 

     In blaming himself, Saul was carrying around that weight. Stormclouds followed his waking hours. Nightmares haunted him at night. He was living a hollow life, barely a shadow of the person that he once was. Saul denied himself the pleasures of a full life, and one day, he walked into the forest and disappeared.

     Some say that Saul still haunts those woods, and that at a certain time of day, a shadow can be found around the grave of Samuel. But the story goes deeper than the Villagers would know. Saul didn't become a ghost to linger and haunt the woods.

    Instead he wandered, until he found a place that afforded him some measure of peace and comfort. A Waterfall cascaded down the rocks. Beyond was the Mountains. He sat there, by the waters edge, listening to the waterfall.

   A Hermit appeared to Saul one day. He looked somewhat familiar, but at the same time entirely unknowable. The Hermit asked Saul, why he sat by the water and chose not to eat. Saul was quiet for a time, but the Hermit waited patiently for him to find the words. 

     Saul told the Hermit his story. Of the bet. Of his brother's fall. The words tumbled from him like the waters that fell from the cliff. The Hermit listened, not saying a word, just nodded now and then, and waited for Saul to finish speaking. 

    For a moment they sat by the water in companionable silence. Letting Saul's words fly with the gentle breeze. Watching the water move and flow before them.

   Then the Hermit spoke. In a voice that Saul knew very well. He looked up in confusion and awe, upon the face of his brother, Samuel.

     Saul wept and hugged his brother. He held him despite his dirty clothes and ragged appearance. Then he asked but one question. "How?", He asked. 

    Samuel smiled warmly. "How, matters not," He told Saul. "What matters is the Now. Look upon the waters before you. They appear still in this pool, but the current still moves slowly on." He explained that though there are rocks, the water continues to fall.

   When water stops moving, it becomes stagnant and poisonous. He said that Saul was living like a stagnant pool. That like the waterfall, time flows on. The stream may hit the rocks, but it continues to flow. What was will always be, and that he can only change things going forward. 

    "Do not live a stagnant Life, My Brother," Samuel said, "Instead, flow and carve your path like the waterfall."

    Saul blinked as tears clouded his vision. And as if he had never been there at all, Samuel was gone. Saul sat alone on the pebbled shore. He stayed there a little longer, watching the water. Then he stood up, and walked onward into the gemstone forest. 

    There is no mention in the Legends of what happens to Saul after, but I would like to think that he took his Brother's advice. He let go of what burdened him, his shame and regret, and Lived his Life to the fullest.  

    Living as the walking dead is not truly Living. Bad things may happen, but whether it's destiny, or based on chance, please don't blame yourself and carry that with you. Whatever troubles you, or whatever you regret, let it flow by like a leaf on the water. The Past cannot be changed. We can only be in the Now. Do what you can, and keep moving forward. 

    Thank you for reading this article. May there be Peace and Love in the New Year going Forward.