“As you grow older, you’ll find the only things you regret are the things you didn’t do.” ~ Zachary Scott

We are taught that we need to analyze our past in order to remember our mistakes — to remember the choices that didn’t work out well for us so that we can then make “better decisions” today that will bring us more pleasure or more comfort or more wealth in the future.

And yet “functional… regret” has nothing to do with the wrong things we did engage, and everything to do with the right things we didn’t.

Opportunities to care for others are all around us in every moment of our lives; opportunities that most of us completely ignore most of the time. And these are the sources of our Souls’ much deeper regret — these are the true mistakes of our past. Did we criticize a friend when we could have encouraged him? Did we gossip about an enemy when we could have defended her? Did we turn away from a homeless stranger when we could have paused and cared?

Of course, this more profound regret has nothing to do with feeling ashamed of past errors. Instead, “functional regret” non-judgmentally recognizes recent callousness, and then demands that we go forth into future and replace it with acts that are courageously Kind.

“Do not brood over your past mistakes, as this will only fill your mind with regret and depression. Simply do not repeat them in the future.” ~ Sivananda

Chances to make a real difference are all around you every day.

Search for them …
Find them …
Act on them.

“Learn to see the world in its true light. It will enable you to do good, and, when summoned away, to leave without regret.” ~ Robert E. Lee

Filed under: Wisdoms from the Journey by Scaughdt