VIII. REGRET

Hello Mirror, so glad to see you my friend
it's been a while...

Staring at the empty page before me
All the years of wreckage running through my head
Patterns of my life I thought adorned me
Revealing hurtful shame and deep lament

Overwhelming sorrow now absorbs me
As the pen begins to trace my darkest past
Signs throughout my life
that should have warned me
Of all the wrongs I've done for which I must repent

I once thought it better to regret
Things that I have done than haven't
Sometimes you've got to be wrong
And learn the hard way
Sometimes you've got to be strong
When you think it's too late

Staring at the finished page before me
All the damage now so clear and evident
Thinking about the dreaded task in store for me
A bitter fear at the thought of my amends

Hoping that the step will help restore me
To face my past and ask for forgiveness
Cleaning up my dirty side of this unswept street
Could this be the beginning of the end?

I once thought it better to regret
Things that I have done than haven't
Sometimes you've got to be wrong
And learn the hard way
Just when you're through hanging on
You're saved

IX. RESTITUTION

If we are painstaking about this phase of our development
We will be amazed before we are half way through
We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness
We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it
We will comprehend the word serenity 
And we will know peace
No matter how far down the scale we have gone,
We will see how our experience can benefit others
That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear
We will lose interest in selfish things 
And gain interest in our fellows
Self seeking will slip away
Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change
Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us
We will intuitively know how to 
Handle situations which used to baffle us
We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what 
We could not do for ourselves

Are these extravagant promises? 
We think not. They are being fulfilled among us
Sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly
They will always materialize if we work for them...

You're only as sick as your secrets, 
But the truth shall set you free...

The truth is the truth, so all you can do is live with it.