I Could’ve Been An Astronaut!
(For The Daily Prompt: Regrets, I’ve Had A Few)
By Joseph E Rathjen
September 06, 2013
Whenever someone asks me what my biggest regret in life is, I always think back to when I was 17-years-old and almost got a job working for NASA. The more I think about it, however, the more I wonder where I would be now if it had actually happened the way I had hoped it would. But the more I think about it, the more that classic song by “Old Blue Eyes” (Frank Sinatra) keeps creeping back into my head, and the more I try not to, the more I find myself singing it.
“Regrets, I’ve had a few…But then again, too few to mention…“
As I hear the music, and pretend that I’m standing on the moon looking out at the earth all alone and with no landing lunar module to get back, the music suddenly gets louder…
“I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption…“
But then I start to cry when I begin to realize that I was part of an exemption. That’s why I’m now standing on the moon with no space suit in a weird fantasy where the only hope of getting back down to Earth is if Halley’s Comet suddenly comes whizzing by and lets me hitch a ride on it.
“I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway…“
If I had planned each charted course along the byway, I would probably have lived in a mansion back then somewhere down in Houston, Texas, and hanging out with my buddies Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and John Glenn. Instead, I’m standing on the moon with no tube food freezing my ass off.
“And more, much more than this, I did it my way…“
Okay, so maybe I did do it my way, but instead of fame and glory, now I’m sitting here writing this stupid blog post hoping someone in the blogosphere will like it.
I could on and no with the rest of this song, but why torture myself…and you. The simple fact of the matter is that I’ve learned after 57-years of life, that no matter how many regrets one has, it makes entirely no sense to cry over them. Every time you wake up in the morning is a new opportunity to do something great, meaningful, or something that will mean something special to someone – no matter how small or trivial it may seem to you at the moment.
So take my advice, lose those regrets, those jealousies, all that procrastination and resentments and get up and out and do something about it.
Life is not about what it could have been…it’s about what it could be…
P.S. (Okay, so I didn’t become an astronaut…but at least I don’t have to walk around for the rest of my life in diapers.)
© Joseph E Rathjen – All Rights Reserved – 2013
Joseph E. Rathjen is a book author and an Opinion Writer for 1World Online.
Here are some of my blogger friends thoughts on regrets:
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
- I have lived a blameless Live | A Teacher’s Blog
- The Living Eulogy Experiment | contrailsonmyheart
- Adam asmaca | pesrevsanatpesrev
- The last time I lied | Miss Moiety
- Regrets: Repost and Share | J. M. Tompkins
- Who Are These People? | Conversations
- Regrets, I’ve Had a Few | Geek Ergo Sum
- Well you don’t know till you try, right? | thoughtsofrkh
- What I was and what I am | Right Down My Alley
- Two Wolves | Spirit Lights The Way
- Daily Prompt: Regrets, I’ve Had a Few – I miss you FeeFee | littlegirlstory
- Daily Prompt: Regrets, I’ve Had a Few | Under the Monkey Tree
- Regrets: I’ve had a few – The mistake which changed my life.. | storyofmylife1993
- A Train Named “Regret” | The Jittery Goat
- Daily Prompt:Regrets,I’ve Had a Few | Motherhood and Beyond
- Turning to life or death? Regrets… | alienorajt
- Art Institute Woes… | Eyes Through The Glass – A Blog About Asperger’s
- A bittersweet thank you – a letter | walkin’ on sunshine
- Regrets (Huitain) | Liars, Hypocrites & The Development of Human Emotion
- About My Dog | Anchors Aweigh
- Daily Prompt: Turning Point | Books, Music, Photography & Movies : my best friends
- Daily Prompt: Non, je ne regrette rien … Well, not much, anyhow | SERENDIPITY
- Daily Prompt: Regrets, I’ve Had a Few « Mama Bear Musings
- Regrets, I’ve had a few: Where Do I Belong? | The Story of a Guy
- Regrets? « RPMAS
- Regrets, I’ve had Few | Flowers and Breezes
- Daily Prompt: Regrets, I’ve Had a Few | On My Front Porch
- The Road I Should Have Taken | Creative Mysteries
- Reflections [Daily Prompt: Regrets, I’ve Had a Few] | unknowinglee
- Ain’t Got No Time for That. | unblockedwriter
- Daily Prompt: Regrets, I’ve Had a Few | Kim, Who Lives at Home
- Daily Prompt : Regrets ….I’ve had a few | Valley Girl Gone Country
- University Knocks | The Magic Black Book
- Daily Prompt: Regrets, I’ve had a few | Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss
- REGRET OR IS IT CALLED EXPERIENCE | dandelionsinwind
- Forehead Slap – Daily Prompt: Regrets, I’ve Had a Few | Reinvention of Mama
- Daily Prompt: Regrets? None. | My Atheist Blog
- Daily Prompt: Regrets, I’ve Had a Few | LADYBOY PROMPT
- Daily Promts: Regrets, I’ve Had a Few | Photos and writings
- “Regrets, I’ve Had a Few” | Relax
- The Road Less Traveled | Just Visiting This Planet
- Crash & Turn | Good2begone
- Oh No, She Didn’t! Wow, She Really Didn’t… | Molly Greye
- No regrets with love | Life is great
- Daily Prompt: Regrets, I’ve Had a Few | ellie azure
- I’m not what I was | I Didn’t Just Wake Up This Morning with a Craving
- Your Regrets Sing I Told You So | Bullets and Hearts
- points turning | Her Broken Nibs
- Regrets; I have it all the time. | Testimonies of a Liar
- Daily Prompt: Regrets, I’ve Had a Few | cinnwriterblog
- I Did it My Way | Girlie Groove
- Regrets, I’ve Had a Few | The Nameless One
- Birthday thoughts
- Out of the Comfort Zone | Daily Prompt: Regrets, I’ve Had a Few | Being a Huntress
Pingback: A gross underestimation | Life & Times
Pingback: YOUR KIND OF LOVE ENDED TRUST FOR ME | hastywords
Pingback: No regrets with love | Life is great
Pingback: Do I really need to say it again? | Rob's Surf Report
Hey … I’m glad you wrote this …. thanks for now letting me take over with Frank banging about in my head 😉
Good points made.
Thanks for stopping by Pat! He is addicting, isn’t he?
Absolutely …. I’ll be singing his songs all night, in my head, maybe on the stereo, regardless of what I’m doing!
Pingback: What if I was a regretful guy? | Okay, what if ?
Pingback: Regrets I’ve Had | My [redacted] Journey
Pingback: Daily Prompt: Regrets, I’ve had a few | Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss
Hi! Thanks for stopping by. I like how you incorporate a song into your post. So meaningful. 🙂
Thanks Miss Captain. I did it on a whim. Maybe I’ll do it more often (when appropriate of course.) Thanks for coming over!
Pingback: Daily Prompt: Regrets, I’ve Had a Few | flow of my soul
I know what you mean… I could have a forensic scientist, and now in a vastly vastly different career I am left wondering if I missed my vocation or dodged a bullet (the latter bit being rather an apt turn of phrase in this instance don’t you think LOL?)
In the end the other path could have been better, but you never know, it may have been worse too.
Thank your lucky stars for the path you ended up taking… and regret nothing.
Thanks kiwidutch for commenting. I still, though, every now and then, feel this slight urge to get nourishment out of my toothpaste tube!
Pingback: An Easy Yet Irresistible Way To Attract Blog Traffic | The Political and Social Chaos Blog