Written with Regret (Regret #1)

by Aly Martinez

I explained to my doctor that I was in the prime of my life, as some would call it, but most days, it was all I could do to pry my lids open. It felt like I was walking through life, dragging two cement boulders tied around my ankles and a semi-truck strapped to my chest. How was I ever going to survive the rest of my life if I couldn’t even climb out of my bed? He looked me straight in the eye and said, “If you objectively look at life as a whole, it’s a daunting and impossible process. There are just far too many obstacles for one person alone to conquer. The world sucks. People are judged rather than accepted. Hate spreads far more easily than love. Power and money are valued more than morality. Insecurities are preyed upon rather than quelled.” His intense gaze never left mine when he asked, “Why would any of us want to live like that?”

“Because life isn’t lived as a whole. You aren’t given a hundred years all at once. Time is doled out one very manageable second at a time. Stop looking at the big picture and find happiness in the seconds.”

“We aren’t given a hundred years all at once. Time is doled out one very manageable second at a time. If all you focus on is the big picture and worry about tomorrow, you lose the happiness that can be found in the seconds.”

There’s a reason time only marches in one direction. You can choose any second to start over again.”