Pivoting From An Attitude Of Regret

I came across this quote recently and thought, yup… so true…

 “regret is the most wasted effort ever”.

 Regret is about living in the past.  It’s about looking back and wishing we’d done something different.  And we all know how easy (not) it is to change the past. 

I find that if I dwell on what could have been, when I imagine a different reality from the one I’m currently residing in, I get kind of bummed.  And for some it can certainly border on feeling depressed, or in a place of blame or shame or self-judgment.

Regret is one of those places that doesn’t seem to lead us to a better place, but rather keeps us mired in what was… whether that past time was earlier this morning or 25 years ago.

 And it takes a good deal of effort and energy to stay in that place of regret.  Energy that could well be used for other purposes.

 So sometimes it helps to ask ourselves a really simple question. 

“What’s an attitude  I could try reaching for that would feel better?” 

 You might not have the answer to that question right away, but the simple act of asking yourself will prompt some kind of shift within you.  Attitudinally.  A pivot from Regret to who knows what?  (“Curious”, or “Accepting”, or “Neutral”, or “Non-Invested”, or …)

 Pivoting from an attitude of regret is a real gift that you give to yourself. 

And can change so much in how we see our world.