If you are a women over 50 you have regrets about things they didn’t do or say in the past. Daniel Pink in his book – The Power of Regret – found when we are young we regret the things we did. As we age our regrets are the things we wish we had done or said.
Featured image is a meme I stole from Facebook.
For me personally, my regrets were decisions made mostly from a lack of knowing what my values were. Instead my values consisted of what others wanted them to be so I could fit in. I thought that being what others wanted would offer me a sense of security.
“See I can be who you want, so love me forever.”
Funny thing – the harder I tried to assimilate myself into someone else’s life, the tighter I held on, the more I ended up losing. That is a story for another day!
In a recent article I wrote, Getting Off the Well Worn Path, I retrace some pivotal moments in my life where I let others lead me down paths I had no understanding of, and came to realize later they were not the paths I wanted to travel.
Your values are the core of who you are and will give you a greater sense of control over your own lives.
Shelly Drymon
Your decisions when alighted with your values will provide a sense of clarity and direction, as you enter into this phase of your life. They won’t regret proof your life, but your regrets will be fewer.
By understanding the core values that are important to us and living by those values, we can use our past regrets to shape our future behavior. We will always have regrets, but I aim to have fewer as I launch myself in my 60’s.
I believe the first crucial step is to have compassion for yourself. It’s super hard I know. I tell myself I did the best I could with what I knew. Give yourself a hug and move forward with your values, and new sense of purpose.
