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Feb 19, 2026

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a sign with a couple of people on it — Photo by Marco Kaufmann on Unsplash

This week we’re talking about two very important things: making decisions and our future selves.

Obviously the two are connected because as we know, our decisions impact every aspect of our lives - from health to finances to career to relationships.

For example, if we decide to eat like crap and go balls to the wall with processed foods, tons of booze, and sugar… guess what happens?

Our health is a hot mess.

I could list other examples of things we know we should do, but that would be annoying. Also, you’re not 12, this isn’t a lecture, and more importantly, this isn’t the kind of decision making I’m talking about.

I’m talking about life decisions that either lead to life regrets or fabulous memories.

Example (and confession) - when I was a teacher, I’d often call in sick and then spend the day helping and hanging out with my aging parents.

*Here’s a pic taken on one of my sick days. Sorry, not sorry.*

Never, ever do I regret those “sick days” (in fact, I should’ve taken more).

Or, there’s the time I was at a party and someone suggested I run a marathon that was coming up in three short months. I could’ve told them they were crazy. Instead, I decided Why not? That decision led to me meeting my husband, my people, and 15 years of marathons around the country.

Those two stories have happy endings.

However, sometimes our decisions lead to regrets.

The problem is, we never know which road we’re on until we’ve gone too far to turn back. Sometimes we make the wrong choices, and we end up regretting those decisions for the rest of our lives.

That happened in the case of a golfer from England named Pete, who I met at the Vilamoura ProAm last month. Pete was there with his three golf pals - all of them in their 70s and as he said, “probably the oldest group at the tournament.” Let me add also the most fun and coolest group. I enjoyed debriefing after each day’s activities with Pete and his pals each day during our social hours.

*Left to right: Lenny, Ian (pro), Pete, Monty*

At any rate, as we were talking about the world of golf, Pete shared a story about how he and his dad (Brian Notton) attended the Masters in 1972.

Pete’s dad had gotten tickets from an old WWII friend who lived in Augusta.

Pete tells the story:

Each evening after play had finished we used to chat to some media reporters whilst having a drink. I remember it was close to a large Oak tree which I believe is still there. Also there was a temporary fence designating the media area outside of the clubhouse. We stood on the patrons side, they stood at the edge of the media side.

Despite being bit of a rogue, Dad was intelligent, interesting, polite and could be charming when he needed to be.

The media guys really enjoyed his company, so on Sunday evening when saying our goodbyes, they asked if we would like to be their guests and play the course the following day.

But… we were scheduled to fly up to Philadelphia the next day to visit a friend for a couple days and then on to New York to see another friend. After that we were going on to Grand Rapids (Michigan) to see Dad’s sister.

In those days it wasn’t easy to even contact an airline let alone rearrange a flight at late notice.

So after some agonising thought, Dad decided we couldn’t do it and there was always next year.

Next year never came for some reason.

*Pete at the 1972 Masters getting Tony Jacklin’s autograph.*

Fast forward to July of 2010 - Pete’s dad had stomach cancer and was given just a few days to live. Pete begged the doctors to keep him alive so he could watch just one more Open on TV. The doctors told him it wasn’t possible, and took him to hospice for palliative care.

Here’s what followed, according to Pete:

On one visit a few days before my dad died he said to me,

“Pete, I’ve been reflecting on my life…”

And before preceeding with his dad’s dying words, Pete paused. Then he explained that his dad’s life had been very… colorful. Pete was fully expecting his dad to talk about his many indiscretions.

Dad was a man of contrasting personalities. He lived a colourful life always full of drama. He was the best of men and the worst of men. The best being charming, loving, thoughtful, generous, kind and caring. The worst being abusive, deceitful, hurtful and cutting. His escapades include early life jail, infidelity, and gambling, which makes his dying regret all the more remarkable.

And that dying regret?

*Pete couldn’t find a picture of he and his dad at Augusta, but this was taken around that time.*

“Pete, I’ve been reflecting on my life.

My biggest regret is that we didn’t play Augusta.”

Augusta!

Pete’s dad’s biggest regret was that they didn’t play Augusta. Not his indiscretions, mistakes, or times he may have hurt those he loved… but missing a round at Augusta.

And while I obviously didn’t know Pete’s dad, I have to think that while his regret certainly was about Augusta… perhaps it was also about something else.

Perhaps it was about missing a moment - with Pete - to do something incredible that happens only once in a lifetime.

Like Pete’s dad, we think, “There’s always next year…”

We say things like…