THOUGHTS ON: For One More Day and regret

The regret is palpable in Mitch Albom's latest book For One More Day. Chick, the main character, regrets how he acted in his relationship with his mother, but is unable to make amends since she is dead. After her death he divorced his wife, became an alcoholic and is ostracized by his daughter. When he attempts suicide he gets a chance to fix past wrongs with his mother. It's a chance many of us would like, but often don't get the opportunity to take. We have to resort to other methods of fixing wrongs. But regret can be overwhelming.
In his book And Never Stop Dancing: Thirty More True Things you need to know now, Gordon Livingston suggests that it is therapeutic to write your memoirs if you forgive of yourself for past wrongs (and unfulfilled dreams) in the process. They don't even really need to be 'wrongs' as such, just actions or words you regret, etc. So often, these wrongs or regrets only happen in our own heads. It is there where we are more harsh on ourselves than we are on other people, and this impedes our current lives.
Serendipitously, someone emailed me this anonymous poem this week:

Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow a mystery.
Today is a gift.
That's why it's called the present.

Albom's book reminded me that we can't let regret impede on the present. The present is valuable.

SM