Paying For It

The band Stereophonics released a song in 1999 called “I Wouldn’t Believe Your Radio,” which includes these lyrics:

You can have it all, if you like.

And you can pay for it the rest of your life.

The song popped up on shuffle this afternoon, and, although I’ve heard it many times (and love it), this time I really focused on those two lines.

I can’t say what the songwriter (Kelly Jones) was thinking when he penned the tune, but I know how I interpret it.

I look back (sometimes way back) at choices I’ve made in my life, and recognize that I’m still paying for some of them. Especially the decisions that hurt other people.

We don’t pay for everything with money, you know. Sometimes we pay with little chunks of our soul.

Regrets

No, my life isn’t miserable. I’m quite happy. But I’m also not racing down the road of life with no feelings of guilt and regret. I’ve got a few. You might, too.

It’s important to stress that these regrets don’t hobble me, and they don’t drive me into despair. But they’re real feelings, just the same. The choices behind them impacted me and other people, and I’d be lying if I pretended they didn’t sometimes make me stop and reflect.

No doubt you’ve seen self-help memes that claim, “You should never live a life of regrets!” Well, that’s utter bullshit. It’s important—perhaps even healthy—to embrace your regrets, not to pretend they never happened. Sweeping stuff under the rug is cowardly.

Because of that, I have certain regrets I have no intention of forgetting. If we’re fortunate, those regrets help us make better decisions later. We hope so, anyway. They’re called life lessons, after all.

Like the song says, I’ll continue paying for those choices for the rest of my life. They don’t bankrupt me. But they keep me grounded, they keep me human, and they keep me introspective.

Yes, I can have it all, if I like. And I’ll pay for it. The good and the bad. I mean, doesn’t “all” include both?

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If this quick post resonated with you and you’d like to buy Dom a tea or a beer, that would be way cool. You can do it right here. And I promise, you won’t regret it.