This time last week, I was thrilled to be starting a four-day weekend. I’m off on Fridays anyway, and Monday was President’s Day. It was also Valentines weekend (meaning that lots of chocolate was coming my way), and all was right with the world. Shortly after I awoke on Monday, snow began to fall. It fell hard and fast all day, and by the time it ended, western Kentucky had received ten inches of the white stuff…what the area usually gets in an entire winter was received in less than half a day.

The thick blanket of snow was exquisite, and I was ever so grateful that my employment was not of an emergency nature; that is to say I’m not a policeman or a fireman or a nurse or any of the occupations that warrants one’s presence no matter if the day is a holiday or if the weather conditions are abominable. With ten inches of snow on the ground and temperatures hovering around zero, I knew classes would be cancelled Tuesday and probably Wednesday, which was fine by me. What I didn’t expect was that the rest of the week would be cancelled, as well. So, I am in the midst of a unexpected ten-day sabbatical, which possibly may be extended because more snow is on the way.

More than once this week I had the thought, “if only I’d known then what I know now,” and I wondered if I would have gone out of town had I known I’d have this much time off. Probably. Both of my kids and their families live hundred of miles away, and I don’t see them nearly as much as I’d like. But no one could have predicted the surprise vacation, so everyone who works at the community college was on a daily need-to-know basis. This week has been an exercise in living one day at a time. By Thursday I was OK with that.

But with lots of time to think, I wondered about other times in my life when it would have been nice to know what the future had in store because then I would have done some things differently, right? My first instinct was to think, “Yes, absolutely.” But hindsight is 20/20. And there’s no use wishing things would have been different because wishing won’t change anything.

It is what it is.

Everyone’s life journey is filled with events–big and small, difficult and easy, sad and happy–that collectively make up who we are today. The challenge, I think, is to learn from the experiences and resolve to mindfully become.

Become what?

Kinder.

Patient.

Thoughtful.

Mindful.

Understanding.

Generous.

Nonjudgmental.

Accepting.

Calm.

Nicer.

Grateful.

Vulnerable.

Empathetic.

Honest.

Authentic.

In other words, better.

We can’t change the past. And since we don’t know what the future has in store, all we have is right now and the chance to make right now the best we can. By living mindfully EVERY day, our lives will be enriched beyond anything we can imagine and, as a bonus, our new pasts will be ones that are free from regret. And that’s a future of which we can be certain!