10 Principles To Live Life Without Regret
No one is perfect. We all do things that we must learn to do over or that we desire to change.
Each of us find ourselves in situations where we wish we had handled it differently, done it better, or said it more respectfully.
When you find yourself in these situations, you must learn to take from them the wisdom and knowledge that will help you to move on to the next level in your life in a positive manner.
The lessons that you get from such situations allow you to grow in various aspects of your being, particularly, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.
The main thing to remember is when you find yourself in situations that you want to change, do over, or do better; you must learn to live life without regret. When you regret what happens in your life, you diminish the person that you are.
My friend, Tracy Leland Jones, helped me to realize this important life lesson. He was killed in June 2006. However, two months before his death, he told me that his life was good and he didn’t regret a thing.
I am glad that I had a chance to have that conversation with him. As I grieve his loss, his words comfort me in knowing that he enjoyed the life that he lived (i.e. entrepreneurship, engagement to the love of his life, fatherhood to his daughter that was the pride of his life, and career success as an actor and comedian). In addition, his words have inspired me to learn to live my life without regrets.
Yet, how can that be done? As I pondered that question, I realized that I am not the only one who must learn to live life without regret. Nor am I the only one who wants concrete strategies to ensure that I live my life without regret.
According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, regret is “to be very sorry for”. Since, in my life, I have been very “sorry for” things that I have done or things that have happened to me, only to later appreciate those things that I regretted because they helped to make me who I am, I pondered how we could stay on the right track towards living life without regret.
Looking back on my last conversation with Tracy, I realized that he had left me with a blueprint for how to live my life without regret.
Based upon the life that I observed that Tracy lived and the insight that he shared with me, below you will find a set of strategies that I have created to assist us with the journey of living life without regret:
1) Apologize, mean it and move on;
2) Appreciate who you’ve become through your trials and tribulations;
3) As you know better, do better;
4) Be honest with yourself;
5) Be someone others can count on;
6) Dare to dream and experience your dreams;
7) Eliminate fear from your life;
Laugh more than you cry and compliment more than you complain;
9) Treat others the way you want to be treated; and
10) Walk by faith.
I know that you can think of some really terrible things that happened in your life - things that if you could go back and change them - you would. Trust me, I can name a few in my life, too!
Yet, to regret what happened to you means that you are stuck in a holding pattern where you can’t break free to relish in the blessings you have been provided by the very things you regret.
The 10 strategies presented in this article will get you going in the right direction to live your life without regret.
I will use these strategies to live my life without regret – as Tracy did. I ask that you join me in doing the same.
Cassandra Lee is a self-development expert that conducts seminars, moderates panels, facilitates workshops, presents speeches, and writes resources that provides instructions on personal growth and professional success. She is founder, president and chief executive officer of SSANEE Incorporated, an educational consulting firm in Chicago, IL, where she provides interactive, skill-building seminars and keynotes to associations, colleges, corporations, clubs, organizations, social service agencies, and universities nationwide. She is featured in Who’s Who in Black Chicago, the Inaugural Edition and is the author of the audio CD D.I.V.A.BITS™: 24 Enlightening Tips to Conquer Communication Skills and co-author of the books Survival Skills for the African-American Woman and The Young Woman’s Guide for Personal Success. To receive inspirational tidbits FREE each month, sign-up for her newsletter, Dialog Digest at http://www.ssanee.com
Tags: grief, life, loss, self-motivation