His Wife – the Greatest Regret of His Life

One session in a seminar I attended in Masbate City last year, included an exercise in which each participant was asked to share his life story through drawings. Specifically, we were asked to fold a bond paper three times lengthwise and three times crosswise to form nine boxes. In each box, we were instructed to draw symbols that would represent important aspects of our life experiences. Ranging from the most unforgettable experience, our ultimate dream, person we trusted most, person who made our life difficult, etc. After which, we were asked to explain our drawings before the rest of the attendees with the facilitator serving as moderator.

During the sharing, a middle aged man, known as a successful professional and with high standing in the community declared “The one who made my life miserable is no other than my wife..” To the shock of all present he added, “And the greatest regret I ever had was marrying her.” When someone curtly asked him to elaborate, or if it would just be okay with him to explain to us why, he said, “Since we got married, my wife never allowed me to be happy. She made me stop smoking, forbade me to drink alcohol, demanded from me that I stop gambling and worst, she would nag at me ferociously whenever I go home very late in the evening!” Someone said, “But why did you keep the marriage, and even had wonderful children who are now the envy in your neighborhood?” Forcing a modest smile on his face, the man replied, “Her attitude actually saved our marriage, If I was allowed unchecked in my vices I could have either died of cirrhosis or ruined our family. You see, because of her attitude, I really felt so blessed for having her as my wife. I came to the point of loving her so much that I would see her as my angel-became-flesh. But she died a couple of months ago. I tried to indulge in my previous vices, but no one checks on me, or nags at me anymore, and my vices seemed to have lost their pleasure for me all together too. How couldn’t I regret marrying someone then, who has changed my entire life but just recently left me – never to return?” He paused for s while then uttered, “Its better not to have a precious stone.. and just lose it afterwards.”

For a moment no one dared to say anything.