National Day of Regret?

If you live in Ireland, December 26th is St. Stephen's Day. If you live in the United Kingdom or many of its former principalities, December 26 is recognized as Boxing Day.  Here in the United States, today is simply "the day after Christmas" But December 26 is characterized by  mixed emotions....and the strongest one for me is the feelings of regret. 

A friend born on 12/26 said it's the single worst day to have as your birthday.

I don't want a dark cloud to rain over our Christmas parade, but I woke up on December 26th and thought, "I wish I had gotten x person y gift. I regret not making this drink or that dessert for the holiday gathering. I should have completed this. I ought to have done that." Maybe you understand. The day after Christmas might be the single hardest day of the year to get to work on time due to the food and festivities, frolic and fun that have transpired for the past 48 hours. Some may regret how much they ate or drank. Others regret not taking the day off. These thoughts gave me pause to consider: Should we have a national day of regret?  

Would a day for "should's, could's and would's" to be named, shared and discarded do us good? Is there some sort of ritual we could impart with the proclamation of said regrets to help us resolve to do differently tomorrow. NB: Timing is perfect....with New Year's Day just around the corner! I'm not interested in a cynical vibe—Festivus serves that purpose—or in hosting a pity party. Let that serve a table of one. No my national day of regrets, is meant to help me learn from what I wish we had done in the spirit of insert your own variable here—enjoying the holidays more...being of better service to others...self improvement... growing in virtue and of course making Sports and Spirituality better. With that charge in mind, here are a but a few of my regrets in that category.

There are no shortage of prayer resources during the season of Advent to prepare our hearts and homes for Christmas. This year, my favorite was one created by the Notre Dame Alumni Association, entitled "The Chapels of Notre Dame." As written on its website,

"This Advent season, we welcome you to join the Notre Dame family as we quiet our hearts and still our minds to prepare the way for the Lord. 

Each day, receive a special Advent reflection featuring a short video from a chapel on campus. Listen as a member of the Notre Dame family introduces a verse from Scripture or an Advent theme to help you center your thoughts. And take a few quiet moments for your own reflection and prayer."

I loved seeing these sacred spaces, some familiar, others new—with an opportunity to reflect upon a specific verse of the day's Gospel reading. I enjoyed hearing the Word as read by a current student and learning their name, hometown and what they are studying. As John Mooney, a junior from Orlando, FL welcomed us to Mendoza's Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel, I recognized the name and the face. I couldn't see his height but when Mooney introduced himself, he said, "I'm a junior studying Business management consulting and I play on the men's basketball team." I loved seeing this athlete who plays so tough on the hardwood, leading me in prayer. The next day, Hannah Thompson a sophomore from Albuquerque NM welcomed the viewer to Badin Hall. Thompson is a psychology major and plays on the women's volleyball team. I wish I had shared both of those videos before Christmas. Sports and Spirituality par excellence! I'm making up for that regret by sharing it now, though Advent has turned into Christmastide. Next year...

My class, Sports and Spirituality is but a semester long. This means I will have a new group of students when we return in January. I always regret not getting to some material and this year, we concluded class with an outstanding final project. "Saints, Story, Sports and Spirituality." Students were tasked with writing their own story combining these themes as blogs, video and or an art form of their choice. Teacher hack: If you assign a meaningful and creative final project, make the due date a full week before the final class meeting. This way your students can share the fruit of their labor with their peers while you assess and grade their work.

My next posting will include who my students "regret" not meeting in class. As part of their final project, I ask them who they wish Sports and Spirituality had spent time discussing and learning more about. Past examples include: Usain Bolt, J.J. Watt and Bethany Hamilton.  I have been intentional about integrating these folks into the course and it's better because they are part of the dialogue. Thank you, students! 

And I don't know why I haven't done this before, but it's high time I decorate a sports tree. I love themed trees: kids' tree, an Irish tree, whatever your passion provides. My sports tree can easily be decorated with mementos from sporting events I have attended or teams I support. I'm not sure how many bag-tags a person needs—these medals from golf courses can easily serve as tree trimmings! This tree is a no-brainer! 

The weight of my regrets has changed in sharing and writing about them. I see many of these missed opportunities as future ones. I have much to work toward and for! Perhaps this is what a national day of regret could provide—a chance to do things differently, do them better. and anew. Now THAT's the Christmas Spirit!