No Regrets
One of the biggest things that I have noticed recently through interacting with people is the fact that so many people choose to settle. They decide to go with the flow. They decide that they should do what everyone else is doing or what other people suggest because that is what you are supposed to do. It is not often that people will truly think for themselves. The majority of the time, people take the path of least resistance. Or they fall in line, where others have already gone and have already blazed a trail. I am a strong believer in the fact that we are all unique, with unique personalities and giftings, and to an extent, we should all be blazing our own trails.
I have realized recently that there are a few things that we can do, so that we do not go through life aimlessly and have many regrets at the end of our life’s journey.
Live with purpose. Everyday is an opportunity. Everyday is a blessing. However, you have to learn to see each day as important and special. You cannot live purposefully, if you wake up and treat each day as ordinary and live it passively. Every single day of your life is a day that you will spend, and there are no do overs or second chances.
Value your time and energy. Each one of us has a limited amount of time that is given to us when we are born. However, we have no idea how much we are given. Your time and energy have incredible value, because you have a supply that is constantly being depleted. So use your time and energy wisely. Spend them on things that matter. Spend them on things that impact and encourage others. Spend your time and energy on things that matter and will last, even after you are gone.
Learn to Prioritize. Learning to prioritize will come as a result of learning to value your time and energy, as well as learning to live with purpose. Prioritizing is arranging things in a list of importance. What matters to you? What things will matter to you when you are gone? What impact do you want to have while you are around? What do you want to be remembered for when you are gone? How you prioritize your life now, will directly affect both of these. What you spend your time and energy on is what you prioritize right now, if you want to change your priorities, then you have to rearrange your schedule and focus to give the best of your time and energy to those people and things that matter to you the most.
Challenge yourself. If you never make changes or try new things, you will continue to live the current life that you live now. If you make small changes today and every day, then your life could look very different in a matter of a year or two. The problem lies in how much you want to make changes. The issue is how badly you want to push yourself and stretch yourself. It comes down to you. You have the choice. It is your decision. You are the one who will have to do the work. Far too many people choose not to challenge themself to grow, stretch, change, or put in the work to get the changes that they want to see or achieve.
Find your purpose. Each one of us is designed and made with different gifts, abilities, passions, and personalities. If your time and energy are incredibly valuable, then so are you. I do not believe that we are to all go with the flow through this life; Going to school, college, getting a job working 30 - 40 years for 40 hours a week, making someone else’s dreams come true. Your gifts and abilities should be used and maximized, not abandoned or minimized. Your personality and passions should be utilized, not shelved and forgotten about. If you have not considered maximizing your purpose, you may end up totally missing out on a huge and critical part of your life and your life’s journey.
We all get one shot at this life. How it turns out is up to us and the decisions we make. There will always be things that happen that are unforeseen and out of our control. But the majority of life is things that we decide and choices that we make in small daily doses. Live with purpose. Learn to prioritize. Learn to spend your time and energy wisely. Find your life’s purpose. And challenge yourself often. Learning to do these things will help you to live a life that is full, beneficial, and intentional. Which will ultimately lead to having minimal regrets when you look back at your life later on.