9 Things No One Wants To Regret When They’re Older
RIGHT NOW WE have an opportunity to change our future. Right now we can choose to erase regret from our later years. Here are nine things none of us wants to regret when we're older, and some thoughts on avoiding these regrets:
1. Not spending enough time smiling with the people you love
When your work life is busy, and all your energy is focused in that arena, it’s all too easy to find yourself off balance. While drive and focus are important, if you intend to maintain happiness and peace in your life, you still need to balance in the soccer games, the family dinners, the intimate dates with your significant other, and more.
2. Holding a grudge
Grudges are a waste of perfect happiness. If there's someone in your life who deserves another chance, give it to them. If you need to apologize, do it. Give your story together a happy new beginning.
3. Fulfilling everyone else's dreams instead of your own
'Unfortunately, just before you take your first step on the righteous journey to pursue your dreams, people around you, even the ones who deeply care for you, will likely give you bad advice. It’s because they don’t understand the big picture—what your dreams, passions, and life goals mean to you. Have the courage to live a life true to you, not the life others expect of you. Make time to pursue your passion, no matter what anyone else says.
4. Not being honest about how you feel
Many people suppress their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settle for carrying the weight of their own silence. Give yourself permission to feel a full range of emotions. When you’re in touch with what you’re feeling, you’re more likely to understand the situation at hand and resolve it instead of avoiding it. In the end, expressing your feelings will boost your relationships, including your relationship with yourself, to a new, healthier level.
5. Being irresponsible with your finances
When you spend less than you make, you buy lifestyle flexibility and freedom. You are buying the ability to say yes to the things that matter, because you’re saving on the things that don’t. Manage your money wisely so your money does not manage you.
6. Getting caught up in needless drama and negativity
Staying out of other people’s drama is an incredibly effective way to simplify your life and reduce stress. Surround yourself with positive people who make you laugh so hard that you forget the bad and focus on the good.
7. Spending time with people who make you unhappy
To find true happiness in life, you have to follow your heart and intuition. You have to be who you are, and design a lifestyle and career that fulfils you—no matter what that entails or what people say about it. Life isn’t about pleasing everybody. Begin today by taking responsibility for your own happiness. You are the only one who can create it. The choice is yours.
8. Never making a difference in the lives of others
Do something that’s greater than you—something that helps someone else to be happy or to suffer less. Remember, making a positive difference in one person’s life can change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but certainly theirs.
9. Failing because you were scared to fail
If you find yourself at a point of intense decision making where you're caught in a spiral of over analysis and hesitation, and you’re making no progress, take a deep breath, break the spiral, make an educated guess on the next logical step, and take it. Even if you get it wrong, you will learn something that will help you get it right next time.