I am going to unofficially assign some of Sunday’s posts as a time for reflection. It will be about looking back to discover the lessons learn and unlearned. It will be about insight/wisdom learned that might be valuable to others. To start this out, I need to leave some things back in 2021. Regret is one of them, so here goes.

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I came across an interesting article the other day and scribbled a few notes. I wish I could remember where it came from. It was about our regrets in life. My first thoughts about what I regret about my life is “I wish I could do it all over again”. I now have so many lessons learned that I’m sure it would be better the second time, or at least less mistakes would be made.

I regret that I didn’t fill my life with more meaningful pursuits

We all wear many hats as we progress through life. We are students, spouses, homeowners, gate keepers, professionals in one area or another. Each of those areas need to be examined to discover meaningful pursuits. We need to set discrete goals during each phase of life, instead of aimlessly prodding forward.

I regret that I didn’t have more passions in life.

I waited far too long to set goals in the direction I wanted to proceed. Instead, I, like many others was almost totally focused on my career path. My everyday life was consumed by that single corporate passion.

The best example of someone who had only one passion in life was John D. Rockefeller. He fretted exclusively about making money. There was no room for anything else. Here is a few words from him when toward the end of his life, he thought about his obsession for wealth.

‘for years on end I never had a solid night’s sleep, worrying about how it was to come out … I tossed about in bed night after night worrying over the outcome … All the fortune that I have made has not served to compensate for the anxiety of that period.’”

I regret that I was not grateful enough

That is something that comes hard for me. I am always looking over the horizon to find better ways to do things. I was just never satisfied with the way things are, they can always be better. I never took the time to be grateful for what I had. That could have resulted in a happier life than I have yet experienced.

I regret that I didn’t tell my wife enough about what she meant to me.

I didn’t thank her enough for all the things she did for me. That is perhaps my greatest regret. Don’t make the same mistake yourself. Tell your loved ones how much they mean to you.

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