Erasing Regret

Every one of us has experienced feelings of regret.  But it’s not too late to set things straight.  We’re still here breathing.  Today we have an opportunity to change tomorrow.  Right now we can choose to erase regret from our later years. It’s time to make the best of each and every day.

-If you spend your life trying to define yourself by what someone else loves, you’re going to be miserable.  Try things.  Explore.  See what makes you hear music inside and what makes your heart swell, and then go do it.  Find out everything you can about it.  Find other people who love it too.  If you waste time pretending to like something just because other people you think are “cool” like it, you’re going to end up with the wrong people and circumstances in your life.  Love what you love and be yourself, and you will end up with a lifestyle and relationships that make you truly happy.

-As you’re working on point #1, you will inevitably meet people who want to steer you in a different direction – their direction.  Just remember, what’s right for them may be wrong for you, and vice versa.  The truth is that the world isn’t really as it is, but as we see it.  And we all see it differently.  If you end up living a boring, miserable life because you completely ignored yourself and instead listened to a parent, a peer, or some gal on TV telling you how to live your life, then you have no one but yourself to blame.  Honestly, the smartest and most courageous act is simply to think for yourself and listen to you own intuition.  It’s better to die your way, than live someone else’s idea of your life. 

-The world does not owe you a living.  You owe the world a life.  So stop daydreaming and start DOING.  Develop a backbone, not a wishbone.  Take full responsibility for your life – take control.  You are important and you are needed.  It’s too late to sit around and wait for somebody to do something someday.  Someday is now; the somebody the world needs is YOU.  Focus on being productive, not being busy.  Don’t just get things done; get the right things done (and this includes things in your personal life too).

-Is there anything worse than getting somewhere and not realizing how you got there?  Even worse is only realizing how great something is after it’s gone.  Living in the present is a basic notion, but as with most simple things, we often find a way to complicate it.  But there’s nothing complicated about learning to appreciate and notice life as it’s happening.  There’s nothing complicated about being present.  You won’t remember the cool Instagram photo you saw on your feed anyway.  You will, however, want to remember the conversations you had and the stories you lived through. 

I don’t regret the things I’ve done. I regret the things I didn’t do when I had the chance.