What is the opposite of regret?
I’m too old. I’m too young. It’s already been done before. No one will read it. No one cares. I don’t have any unique ideas. I’m embarrassed. I’ve started countless times already and given up.
I can think of a million reasons to NOT do something.
Regret. It’s a word we all know too well. And there’s one word that seems to always go with regret.
Not.
Think about it. If you regret something, it’s usually because you’ve NOT done something.
Not taking advantage of…
Not saying…
Not doing…
I don’t want to look back on my life with regret and while I’ve had plenty of it, I’ve learned a couple of things to either prevent it or help me move past it. How many times have we thought “I know I’m going to regret this” but yet we do it, or don’t do it anyway? I’m learning to recognize and pause when that little voice says I might regret something and consider the consequences and other choices I have in that moment.
The opposite of regret is the mindset that it’s never too late.
To remember I can still take advantage of, I can apologize, I can say something, I can do something to make it right, I can hold my tongue, I can take a deep breath, and the list goes on.
Right now, I’m afraid I’ll regret it if I don’t stick with this blog. So here I am, giving it a go. I don’t want to look back and wonder what could have come of it if I hadn’t ever even written a single word. Mostly, I have all these ideas and thoughts and I want to keep reminding myself of them and I’m hoping someone else might find them helpful too.
Recently I’ve been letting regret sneak into my thoughts a little too much. I regret not videotaping my kids sweet little voices more. I regret how I’ve responded to them or my husband when I’m stressed, impatient or just too reactive. I regret not stopping to play with my kids more when they were younger. Why is it that they always want to sit and play a game with you at the very worst time? It’s always right when the phone rings or when you need to be making dinner or right when you were getting ready to do just about anything else that needed to get done. That’s when their sweet voice pipes up and asks you to play with them.
My regret would tell me that I always had to say “not right now” or “maybe later”. I know that’s just not true and I have to force my mind to remember all the wonderful memories of the quality time I did spend (and will continue). But I refuse to let regret have a hold on me. I refuse to let it define me and I know I am better than my regret and I will move on.
When those thoughts come to mind…those thoughts of regret and everything I DIDN’T do or WISH I would have done or HADN’T done. I tell them to leave! I tell them I’m a fantastic mom who loves her family and would do anything for them and you know what else? It’s NEVER too late!
My son is 14 years old and still loves to play games. I do my best to spend time with him doing something he wants to do as much as he’ll allow me. I remember feeling like I always had to tell him no and I look back and wonder why I did that. What else could have possibly been more important than taking 20 minutes to stop what I was doing and play with him? However, I also know that I really did play with him and did it often. Our culture has our minds wired to always be thinking we aren’t enough…no matter what we do, it’s never enough. Well, ENOUGH of that! I am enough and I strive to be the best version of myself.
My prayer is that my kids will remember the important things. I DID play with them, I spent quality time with them, I took them on dates, and I was there for every single sporting event, play, activity, etc. I refuse to focus on regret and instead will continue to tell myself “it’s never too late”!
