To Relive One Year in My Life

Daily writing prompt

If you could relive one year of your life, which one would it be?

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Today I regret the day we decided to move away from the beach on the KwaZulu-Natal Lower South Coast, where we lived in 2015/2016.

Today is not really a good day to write this blog. My mood and the weather are in perfect disharmony: thunder growls, rain drums down in relentless sheets, and a wild wind wails around the corners of the house. It’s the third week we’ve been all but locked inside by the cold and stormy weather, and my poor little “pity blanket” is starting to wear thin. You know the one—the imaginary shawl you wrap around your shoulders when life feels heavy, and you’re indulging in a good dose of self-sympathy.

The honest truth? There will never be a good day to write this blog. I’ve made so many wrong decisions in my life that I’d honestly rather not revisit them. Would I like to go back and make better choices? Of course. But not now, not at this age. If I can help it, I’d rather make no more decisions at all. I’m too afraid I’ll mess it up again… or worse, that the outcome will be even more of a disaster than the first time around.

But what would I rather do?

I’d rather swim at high tide, letting the waves crash over my head while I gulp mouthfuls of saltwater. And when I’m half-drowned, and someone heroically drags me to shore by the hair, I want to get up, shake off the sand, and dive right back in.

I’d rather walk barefoot under the sun with very little (or no) clothing, feeling my skin warm and alive.

I’d rather sit with my feet in a tide pool, letting tiny fish nibble at my toes.

I’d rather lie flat on my back under a wide, cloudless sky, as I did on the day the featured photo was taken, thinking about the good times I’ve had, the beautiful memories I carry with me, and the sweet, surprising joy of still being part of a life worth living.

I want to do all of this because I’d rather live fully in this day than sit around wondering how my life might have turned out if only… I don’t want to brood over where exactly things went wrong, or how I could’ve fixed it if I’d had a second chance, or even whether I should just be grateful to have come out the other side in one piece.

It’s a little too late for that now.

So instead, I’ll live today.

Because, as Elbert Hubbard once said:
“Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.”