Monday, October 10, 2011

writing: on risks & regrets

 when i'm old and wrinkly
i want to be able to look back and say
"i don't regret anything i did"
and
"i don't regret anything i didn't do"
i want to be able to say i went for it
i want to say i was brave
i want to be able to say that i asked myself,
"what do i have to lose?"
and when my only answers were pride and comfort
i want to say i stopped hesitating
and jumped



i want to be able to sit down with my future daughter and say
guess what, baby girl?
your mama didn't play it safe
she took risks
she said words that needed to be said
even if she was afraid
she peeled the difficult phrases off her lips
even if they terrified her



she bought plane tickets
and went on road trips
because her heart told her to
even when it wasn't cheap
and it wasn't convenient
because, she had hope
and even when it didn't go the way she planned
she never once regretted it
because
it always felt better to say she tried



and because someday,
she wanted to be able to tell you
stop hesitating, baby
and go for it
and what are you waiting for?
and why not?



and she wants to say those words
like she really, really means them 

7 comments:

Emma Frances said...

I absolutely LOVE this. And you are going to love yourself for this and your kids are going to have the coolest mom ever because of this! :] I also love the pictures!!

karajean said...

:) That sounds like a perfect goal {goals?} and a great thing to tell your future daughter. I love it :)

Katie said...

Love love love. I feel like you've already done this for me. And you're not even my mom ;) I guess it's also part of being a good friend.

Casey said...

ok, you are awesome. love this!

Sherri Romney said...

Got your email. Had my hands full at the time and couldn't reply. But I love you. Your kids are going to be so lucky to have a mom like you. You really inspire me. A lot. I am glad you take the risk, because it really stinks to look back and wonder...what if? Keep going. Life always turns out ok. :)

Alexis Kaye said...

wow this is seriously awesome! You're a good person Katie. Good for you for always striving to be better and to LIVE. Most people don't know how because they never spend the time thinking about it. I think that little daughter of yours is going to be pretty dang lucky.

p.s. your comments on my blog...I think dang, is there anything about us that ISN'T the same?!?

Unknown said...

What gorgeous words. This resonates so much with me right now! I want to take risks too. And just live!

Love the blog lady. x