Wake Up to Live! Desires, Fears, and Regrets

Life Is A Dance With Desires and Fears
Or Will You Live Life With Regrets

I had lunch with my son yesterday and we had some great conversation about life.  We talked about our desires, our ambitions, and our fears.  In deep conversation, I found ourselves jumping from our deepest desires to our deepest fears.

Life is a dance, or sometimes I say a balancing act, between what you desire most and what you fear most.  Do you want to take a risk at that new job?  It excites you, but you also have fear of the unknown.  Do you want to go back to school full time, like me, at the age of 50? You get these immense butterflies of excitement and nervousness in your gut, but then you feel that dread saying "what if I don't make it?" or "can I really do this?"

Big decisions are hard decision, but the decisions you don't act upon are the decisions you regret later in life. My son reminded me of an interview a nurse did with a group of elderly dying patients.  Here are the top regrets:

1. I wish I lived a life true to myself and not what others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard and spent more time with family and friends.
3. I wish I had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I chose to be happier.
5. I wish I traveled more.

These are only just a few of the regrets.  Since then, many interviews have taken place and these interviews have revealed many more regrets.

Every time I make a decision, I always think about Tony Robbins analogy which is, When I am sitting in a rocking chair at 80, 90, or 100 years old and I am looking back at my life, what do I see?  Am I happy with the choices I made?  Do I have an amazing story to tell my grandchildren (or others)? Or are my memories filled with regrets?

Wake Up to Live with Desiree Leigh

Related Links: Choices Don't Exist In A Vacuum; Thrive Rather than Survive

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