{"id":577,"date":"2014-04-09T10:41:57","date_gmt":"2014-04-09T14:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=577"},"modified":"2014-04-09T14:05:44","modified_gmt":"2014-04-09T18:05:44","slug":"having-no-regrets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=577","title":{"rendered":"HAVING NO REGRETS"},"content":{"rendered":"

I think most of\u00a0us can recall FDR’s famous quote “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”<\/em> But his less well known quote is “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.”<\/em><\/p>\n

This resonates with me because coaching new retirees always involves\u00a0hearing about their\u00a0“doubts of today.”\u00a0And sadly, these fears and uncertainties will often lead to their “regrets of tomorrow.” If, however,\u00a0 they could overcome their present doubts\u00a0they would\u00a0likely find\u00a0their future\u00a0lives\u00a0to be\u00a0much more fulfilled.<\/p>\n

Most of us would agree that at the end of our life we’d like to\u00a0go back and\u00a0re-do a few things that could have been changed\u00a0– maybe spend\u00a0less\u00a0time at the office\u00a0to make more time for ourselves and\u00a0our families, taken our studies more seriously, made better career choices, etc.<\/p>\n

And while these are important considerations,\u00a0these are not the main reflections of those at the end of their lives. According to palliative\u00a0expert Bonnie Ware, the top five regrets of the dying are:<\/p>\n

1. I wish I’d lived a life true to myself,\u00a0 not the life others expected of me.<\/em><\/p>\n

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.<\/em><\/p>\n

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.<\/em><\/p>\n

4. I wish I’d stayed in touch with my friends.<\/em><\/p>\n

5. I wish I had let myself be happier.<\/em><\/p>\n

And I’d like to add that Nadine Stair on her 84th birthday said, “I wish I had waded in more mud puddles”.<\/em><\/p>\n

Living with no regrets<\/i> places the responsibility upon us, not just to decide what we want out of life but to then go and\u00a0live it. Since we have a finite timetable for life, why not decide today what risks we are willing to take and then begin the process of taking them. Why not reframe\u00a0our current fears and self-doubts into a more positive and optimistic outlook\u00a0for the future.<\/p>\n

So will we answer this question for ourselves, or will we let others answer it for us? Will we act out of fear or out of courage? If we decide to go for it<\/i>, what will It<\/i> be? What do we want\u00a0the rest of our life to look and feel like?<\/p>\n

Now would be a good\u00a0time to answer these questions.\u00a0 The choice is ours . . . to be able to look back one day at\u00a0our life without any regrets at all!<\/p>\n

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