Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

One of my objectives is attempting to eradicate words of regret from my vocabulary.  Coulda, shoulda, woulda? On their way to being erased, I hope. I haven’t yet quite succeeded and I’m trying to be especially mindful when any of those are about to fly out of my mouth.  It’s difficult for me not to sometimes mentally return to scenes where it feels that an outcome might have changed, had my actions been different — so I’m using awareness as my first step.   I remember a recurring line from the old television show L.A. Law — a certain character with a propensity to belabor things would invariably be nudged along by the meeting manager with an exasperated,”Move along, Douglas.”  No disrespect to Marlon Brando, but I don’t want a mournful “I coulda been a contender” in my personal playbook.  Move along, Mary.