Regret

Maupassant's short story Regret revealed how not being true to yourself and expressing how you feel can ultimately haunt you for a life time. Monsieur Saval was an old man that constantly wondered how his life would have been if he would have expressed his love to his dear friend's wife Madame Sandres. One day as they were on a picnic her husband fell asleep, so her and Saval took a walk together. During this time it is evident that Madame Sandres is flirting with Saval by holding his arm and making flirtatious gestures, but Saval does not get the hint. This incident haunts Saval to the point where he decides to confront Madame Sandres, even though it happened several years ago. Madame Sandres confesses that on that day she would have yeilded to him, but she is a woman with no regrets because she never cheated on her husband yet she was still true to her feelings. Saval and Madame Sandres are foil characters because she acted upon how she felt but Saval held his feelings in.

Kenny Chesney's song "A Lot of Things Different" is the perfect song for this story. He talks about how there many things in life he would change if he could and it is a great inspiration to seize the day and live it up with no regrets.The story could have had ended completely different if Saval had chosen to follow his heart, but I think that is just how life goes.
There are so many "what ifs" throughout life. I believe that everything happens for a reason and wondering "what if" is simply a waste of precious time. This story made me evaluate my life and try to think if i had any so called regrets or things I would have done different, but I can honestly say I don't have any and that is a good feeling to have.