Learn the Top Three Life Regrets and How to Not Have Them
Each moment of this life is precious. We must try to live a life without too many regrets. Dieter Uchtdorf, former Lufthansa Airlines executive, gave a great talk about living a life without regrets.
Live a Life Without Regrets
In his talk, Dieter Uchtdorf reflected on a nurse he knew that cared for the terminally ill. The nurse would ask her patients one question as they prepared to leave this life, "Do you have any regrets?" Many of them had regrets. Uchtdorf explained the top three life regrets the nurse heard from her patients. As I read about these life regrets, I wanted to write a blog about them. My goal is that these words might help us focus on living a life without these regrets, a life that is focused on what truly matters, which is helping others succeed and feel loved.
Top Three Life Regrets
1. I Wish I Had Spent More Time with People I Love
People deeply regretted that they spent so much of their lives on the daily treadmill of work. Many had lost out on choice memories that come from spending time with family and friends. If this is the top regret, how do we make sure it's not one for us?
How to Not Have this Regret
It starts by establishing the right focus. The world in which we live comes with many work demands and responsibilities. With all of our work responsibilities, it can be hard to stay focused on what matters most. We won't be able to accomplish everything on our list in one day, so it will take strong time management, scheduling, and commitment to spend time with people that matter most. Start by creating a list of people that matter most. Then look at your daily schedule and prioritize time with them.
2. I Wish I Had Lived Up to My Potential
To me this is an important regret we should try to never let happen. Too many people look back on their lives and realize that they never lived up to their potential, that too many songs remained unsung.
How to Not Have this Regret
We must spend time discovering and using talents. Each of us have been given specific talents. We also have many talents that are undiscovered. It needs to be our pursuit to use our current talents and discover new ones. Too many times in life, we only focus on our weaknesses. Focusing only on our weaknesses can hinder our growth and progression. Start by writing down a list of things that come easy to you. These are talents. Keep this list of talents close to you and add to it. You'll start to discover your greatness, your life mission. Then use these talents to lift others. Right now, at this very moment there is someone who needs your positive light, your talents. Discovering and using your talents will help you live up to your potential. You'll find true happiness.
3. I Wish I Had Let Myself Be Happier
Uchtdorf said, "So often we get caught up in the illusion that there is something just beyond our reach that would bring us happiness: a better family situation, a better financial situation, or the end of a challenging trial. The older we get, the more we look back and realize that external circumstances don't really determine our happiness. We determine our happiness."
How to Not Have this Regret
Start by being grateful for your current circumstances. To help you do this, create a list of things you are grateful for. Start looking for the positives in your current situation. You'll start to feel a change of perspective that will bring a feeling of happiness to your life. Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react. Being grateful will help you feel happy even when you're going through tough times. Also, look for the positives in others you meet and work with in life. To truly be happy is to enjoy this journey of life and help others succeed. Helping others is the easiest way to find happiness daily.
I'm grateful to have read Dieter Uchtdorf's talk on life regrets. Let's all make the commitment to spend more time with loved ones and friends, discover and use our talents, and be grateful in any circumstance. Let's make sure we do our best to not have too many life regrets.