Get Rid of Regret Once and For All
Get Rid of Regret!
by Anne Arouna
We all experience feelings of regret at some time in our lives. Because we don’t sometimes perform the way we may have wished, we bombard our mind with “Could haves”, “Would haves” and “Should haves”. To get rid of regret means we need to start by accepting that our so called ‘imperfections’ are not only inevitable but also part of our reason for being.
What is Regret?
Regret is a feeling of sadness, repentance or disappointment over an occurrence. It could even be as a result of something that one had done or failed to do.
We may speak of forgiveness or know that forgiveness is an issue to be dealt with. But often, we forget that regret. is also something to be dealt with.
Many people (and us women are often guilty), have lives that seem stagnant or do not change because of constant thoughts of past regrets, mistakes and disappointments.
Recognizing Regret
We may think about things such as the nice career we used to have, or wished we had. “If not for this and that, I would have…..”
We think of the spouse, money and the lifestyle that we used to enjoy or the things that we indulged.
There may be triggers that take us back in the time capsule of regret. Suddenly, something happens and we start feeling the pain.
You can tell someone is living in regret if they constantly say words like “Oh I used to be this or that”.
For a long time, I could not forgive anybody that hurt me. I held grudges and regretted everything that happened to me.
I always went back in my past. I was constantly living in the past; the past became a permanent abode almost every day. I remembered the ‘good old days’ and even sad things that happened to me. I was always thinking about them.
It was self-harm in effect.
Effects of Regret
I was trapped. I became very ill unnecessarily because I could not free myself from regret. Regret makes you suffer because you cannot let go.
- Regret is negative. Regret takes hold of your spirit and mind. You start feeling sad and miserable. It torments the mind by showing you a picture of false reality.
- Regret can hold someone in bondage. We are controlled by negative emotions.
- In the meanwhile, life is moving on, the clock is ticking away. The hands of time will not stop because of our regrets.
The only certainty about regret is that we continue to allow pointless suffering in us.
Get Rid of Regret
Thankfully, today, life is a different story for me. I learnt what happens when you live in regret and in the past. All those things I have listed above.
I read the word of God and realised all the damage I was doing to myself. Someone once said, If we are always looking in the rear view mirror, it is hard to keep our eyes on the road ahead. I understood that regret can harm lives because we cannot see ahead of us, the hope of a better future. It is like being in a cage with no door or window to breath air.
Let go of the burden created by regret and visualize how much more time and energy you will have to discover the authority and the guarantee of each new moment in your life.
Every past mistake in our lives is an opportunity for a new beginning. Every past mistake is an opportunity for change in our future. As I said earlier our imperfections are all part of the woven fabric of our beautiful story. The wrong side of the cloth looks messy but the right side is what matters and that looks pretty.
Look at the right side! Get rid of regret.
Anne Arouna is the author of forthcoming book, the Power of the Promise
About The Author
