6 Ways To Live A Life Without Regret
Posted on March 10, 2007 | Category: Better Living, Gratitude, Happiness, Optimism, Purpose
Who hasn’t thought about the day when they’re old and gray and looking back on life wondering if there isn’t anything they regret? I know I have and the questions I think the most about are about my family. Did I do the best I could raising my kids? Are they proud of me?
I often wonder, in hindsight of a life full lived, if there will be any regrets in the way I raised them. Did I do the best I could do as a husband? Was I as kind and loving as I could be? I’ve wondered what’s the best advice an old man would give his grandkids?
I’m sure thoughts of opportunities lost and gained will compete with memories of lessons learned and all those forks in the road.
The point in all of this introspection is ensuring I know the answers to those questions way before I get to that ripe old age. No sense in waiting till I’m 90 in lieu of some wisdom in the present. So having said that, here are some ideas that I believe will help live a life without any regrets.
1. Live with intention, and follow your bliss. Ralph Waldo Emerson put it best, “Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Stop drifting through life, waiting to make decisions, putting up with crap rather than doing something about it. Decide to make it your mission to be proactive in your life and live with deliberate and conscious purpose. Someone once said the first step in getting what you want is to decide what you want. Focus on this to the exclusion of everything else.
2. Live in gratitude. Focus on what there is to appreciate. Being thankful will move you quickly into a blissful state of existence and will attract into your life all sorts of opportunities for which to feel more grateful about.
3. Take responsibility. Unless I take ownership of my less than admirable characteristics, then I can never hope to grow beyond my weaknesses.
4. Focus on what you want to give. Yeah, yeah, I know… the old saying, “tis better to give than receive” is something your mom always told you, but believe it or not, there is something to it. Researchers have shown that the process of giving of yourself releases hormones in your brain that make you feel better and reduce stress. But, most importantly and beyond the obvious physical effects, by putting yourself out there, your drawing that same goodness back into your life.
5. Live in the moment. There is an old Eskimo proverb, “Yesterday is ashes; tomorrow wood. Only today does the fire burn brightly.” It means to remind yourself that worrying about the future or regretting the past isn’t going to change what has or is going to happen. Focus on a desire and breathe it in.
6. Introspection. I think Shashi Tharoor, author of Show Business - A Novel, said it best: … a life lived without introspection, without inquiry. That’s not a life worth living.
Article by Robert Hunt
» Filed Under Better Living, Gratitude, Happiness, Optimism, Purpose
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