We all have heard, “Live life with no regrets.” How many of us take it seriously until it’s too late? Lately I have read several blogs and one in particular has caught my attention more than most. It’s on Facebook (The Breast Cancer Site or www.thebreastcancersite.com) with postings about breast cancer and those the disease affects. There are stories of patients, survivors, friends, and family on the site that will touch your heart.
The stories are about women and their battle for survival as their lives have become a rollercoaster of events. Reading these stories I’ve notice that there is a repeating theme in a good number of them; Regret(s). Yes, as in those pesky little choices made in life that compels a person to wish they had done it differently.
The good news is that it's not too late to start enjoying your life and literally live with no more regrets. As usual, it’s not an easy process and requires that you reevaluate your priorities. Americans have an issue with this because we have been taught from birth to work ourselves to death. You need to find the courage to break free from whatever is restraining you. As Nike says, “Just do it!”
Start changing things today. Here are a few ideas:
1) Maintain your friendships. Keeping in touch with those closest to you will not only help keep you in the loop, they add a great support system for the times when life is not so kind. Most cancer survivors state that they couldn’t have done it without the support of their friends and family. (Notice how friends are first?) Now go build some lifelong relationships.
2) SPEND MORE QUALITY TIME WITH YOUR CHILDREN! Go to that soccer game, or dance recital and stop with the excuses. These are the people who will be in charge one day, so raise them to become responsible and caring adults. Don’t depend on the television or internet to raise your kids. Remember someday they will either take you in and care for you or put you in a home and try to visit every third Sunday.
3) Travel more often. You don’t have to go to an exotic place, just go out and have fun somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit. If you have to pack the kids in the car, then do it. (Hey there’s some quality time!)
4) Start a bucket list and get to it. No matter what it is; skydiving, deep-sea fishing, or learning how to paint. It's not necessary to have the list completed, but ultimately some things should be crossed off of it.
Again, no more excuses, no one wants to hear them anyways. Aren’t you ready to live your life? In the end it matters not that you didn’t lose those ten pounds in 2011 or that you failed to get 600 friends on Facebook or Twitter. Lying on their death-bed most confess that they worked too hard and missed too much, disappointed that they didn’t make time for their children or spent more time seeing and appreciating the world.
When your time comes the last thing one should mull over is the “what if’s.” Immediately attempt to improve your life while you still have the time to do so.
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