No More Regrets

I have always been surprised by the number of people who seem to be living with the constant burden of regrets. I’m not talking about regrets about awful deeds such as murder or other crimes but rather over things that happen in the natural course of life that are over and done with. We waste so much time and energy feeling guilty or remorse about the past.

Some of what we regret can be changed and some can’t. There are people who regret the choices they made years ago. Some regret that they haven’t heeded the advice given, done more for a loved one, made more friends, taken more risks, been more caring and understanding and on and on it goes.

Every time we think and rethink and rethink again about something we regret, the emotional impact of our thoughts continues to grow. The more attention we pay to something, the harder it is to stop thinking about it. And this is why so many of us struggle with regrets. We get stuck in a cycle and the regrets become increasingly difficult to dispose of.

It is in our best interest to take a step forward and eliminate all the outstanding regrets in our lives.

Regret always has its orientation in the past. It’s something that you wish were different or something that you wish you had handled differently. You may well want to make decisions in your life to remedy past mistakes if you can but ‘crying over spilt milk’ will definitely not help.

The only way to eliminate regret is to commit to a new mindset, one of forward motion. As thoughts that contain regret come up, the trick is to be aware of them and let these thoughts go. Understand that regrets come from the past and that you can’t go back in time.

Recognise that you have the power to rid yourself of regret. You created it and now and you must get rid of it. All you need to do is to notice your thoughts of regret and catch them if you can. Drop these thoughts, knowing that they are self-destructive and useless.

And finally, give yourself a pep talk to reinforce your change, emphasising that from this point forth, you will live in the present and look forward towards the future.