Our journey on this earth is a series of lessons and triumphs. We make a lot of great decisions (and many bad ones), but all the choices that we have made have led us to be the empathetic, understanding people that we are today. There is a story going around about a woman regretting that she stayed at home with her kids and didn’t continue working. After I read the article I thought about all the moms out there that walk around with regrets. Regrets about staying at home, regrets about working, regrets about staying in an unhealthy marriage, regrets about not being patient with their children . . . and the list goes on and on and on.
What is the point of continuing to hold onto our regrets? If the reason is that you don’t want to do it again, why not change your ways and move on? Regrets are burdens – they carry weight keeping you from moving on to bigger and better things.
Regrets are simply punishments that we place on ourselves. But aren’t we already paying the price of the mistake we made by not having the outcome that we wanted? Why punish ourselves with regret? If you regret something you did to another person (like your children), then change your ways today. Replace old behaviors with new ones and teach your children to live life to the fullest.
Our life experiences make us who we are and our mistakes can actually be a good thing. Mistakes are our “lessons learned” and make us grow and become better people. The most successful people have made the biggest mistakes, so I challenge you to embrace your journey that has made you the person you are and turn your regrets into "lessons learned."
Toni Langdon is a stay-at-home mom of two daughters and an in-home child care provider. She is a black belt in martial arts and has worked with Chester County, PA children with special needs. This post is adapted from her blog, Tickles and Time Outs.
