Regret ~ a noun or a verb
(n) A feeling of sadness, repentance, or disappointment over something that has happened or been done
(v) Feel sad, repentant, or disappointed over (something that has happened or been done, especially a loss or missed opportunity)
Do you want to know one way to stop in your tracks and take stock of your life? Have your younger brother die unexpectedly. It’s a sure way to make a person stop and think… I’ve entered the generation that will begin to die. Some mysterious entity starts to pick us off… our families, our friends, one by one. I have now joined the ‘Questioning My Own Mortality Club’.
I read an account of a man who had a heart attack; he was dead for four and a half minutes before his heart was restarted. When asked later… since he knew he came so close to dying, did he have any regrets? He explained he had none.
He had no regrets! … WOW… can I say that?
Regrets? Oh, yes! I have plenty… people I have hurt, people I have let hurt me… places I wanted to go, places I should not have gone… comments made I should have kept to myself, times when I should have spoken up and didn’t… experiences I wished I hadn’t tried, others I wished I had gone for it… I seem to have a never-ending ‘regret’ list…
When asked how he achieved having no regrets, the gentleman simply stated, “start at the end.” When it’s all over… how do you want to be remembered? Once you answer that question, you can begin living to fulfill the conclusion you want.
What a wonderful way to look at life… How do you want to be remembered? What do you want people to say about you at the end of your life?
This time of year, I reflect on the past, and plan for the future. It’s a good time for me to try and choose my next route… however, now I need to think… not for just this next year, also for the rest of my life.
I intend to pay attention to what is ‘really’ important. I will try to chart my course and make decisions so I have no regrets. Life is not going to wait… although I’m moving forward… any of us can be picked off, at any time.
I want to live with NO regret, a noun and a verb!
Later… Barbara
Barbara Hahn's Blog 