Make a U-Turn on Regrets

As I move into my senior years I have on occasion become mired in long-standing regrets.

As I got ready for bed one night I recalled certain unrealized dreams from the past. I felt as though I had wasted much of my life and I went to sleep feeling distraught.

That night I had a dream. While driving, I came to a standstill and then began to slide backward unable to stop. In order to end this backward slide I needed to make a U-turn to resume my forward direction.

Regrets have had me sliding backward on my path, getting stuck in beliefs of wasted time and missed opportunities. Regrets can ensnare me in negative thoughts about chronological age and linear time. This deception has me think I am beneath other people whom I perceive to have more “success” in their lives.

I do believe however, this is nothing more than a fallacy.

Quash the “success” fallacy

Who makes the judgement call on how successful we are in life anyway? What is success? Success in what? What is a full life? Who says so? And who makes these so-called rules?

I really believe this is a mental construct of beliefs that are not even our own but come from society, peers, parents, colleagues, and many others who touch our lives in some way, including previous generations.

I didn’t fulfill my dreams when I was younger because I was not ready. I did not have the awareness that I was living on lies – lies about lacking ability and not deserving what I truly desired.

The bane of this issue is the resistance that can stop us in our tracks with self-doubt and self-sabotage. If I wallow in regret, perhaps this is an excuse to once again resist what I truly desire and to continue an old pattern of stalling and not moving forward.

When I regret what I did or did not do or what I felt I should have done in my life I create a destructive mindset. I see a group of individuals known and unknown to me, judging what it means to be living a successful life. What is formidable is that no one can show us our path. We need to figure that out for ourselves along with its meaning.

What is vital is in knowing we have a choice to create whoever we want to be.

Life is not wasted

No one including myself can say I have wasted my life. Everything which came to pass was perfect for the evolution of my soul in each given situation. Regret is judging myself, keeping me stuck in false beliefs.

Thinking about my life, I have moved around, met people from all over the world from many walks of life, have traveled alone, acquired college degrees later in life, had various jobs, taken care of myself, and I have pondered and reflected on myself and on the world. I now possess all of these teachings and experiences that make up who I am in this particular lifetime.

Ultimately, what I choose to think and do with my experience is my judgement call and no one else’s.

So, how can I resolve what I might still regret? Are there any opportunities to now do the desired things I wanted to do in the past and didn’t? If I stay open and watchful I can see opportunities in different ways which suit my needs and desires at the present time. Perhaps I am ready for something new.

And what is crucial is to forgive and to have compassion for myself. And … what I do with my thoughts is essential.

Begin again … now

I need to give myself credit for what I have experienced and achieved. All I can do now is begin where I am with what I have. And I realize that chronological age has no bearing on what I choose now.

To make a U-turn on regrets means to realize that regrets rob me of the present and the freedom to choose what I want now and who I want to be. I need to let go of old ideas of what I think I should have done in the past. The key is to follow what my soul is asking at all times. So the question is, in what ways can I do what I desire now in the present?

To do my best in any given situation and to stay watchful allows me to be aware of new opportunities. This is a forward moving path.

Every life situation has added to my story of who I am and this one life is but a blink in eternity.

What about your life? Do you find yourself sliding backward with regrets? If so, it’s time to make that U-turn. What you imagine as lost can be discovered as found … in the eternal moment, starting now.

Joyful journeying.