Overcoming regrets

A few days ago I mentioned I was currently reading Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals by Michael Hyatt. Yesterday I read the chapter on regrets. Hyatt referred to a study that found the top six regrets people had concerned education, career, romance, parenting, self-improvement, and leisure. I have regrets in some of these areas, but my biggest regret is that I didn't have Jesus Christ earlier in my life.

I was in my late 20s when I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. How I wish I had done so sooner. I can tell you the last 40 years have been much better than the first 30, and it's because of how God has worked in my life and the opportunities He has given me.

There comes a time in all our lives when we look back and evaluate the various decisions we made. I would imagine most people regret some of their decisions made earlier in their lives. However, regret does not have to be a negative. The author points out some positives that can come from regrets. One of those positives is that our regrets can move us to do something about the decisions we regret having made.

Maybe you regret ignoring your family while trying to climb the corporate ladder. Although you cannot go back in time, you can commit to spending more time with your family now and throughout the remainder of your life. Perhaps you regret choosing a certain career when you would now rather be doing something else. A lot of people make new mid-life career choices. I know a former teacher who went back to school to earn a law degree and another individual who decided to go to medical school after spending several years in another career to become a medical doctor.

Many Christians look back over their lives and regret not having spent more time studying the Scriptures or being more involved in ministry. Some regret the lives they've lived knowing their life choices were not pleasing to the Lord. Again, you can't undo the past, but you can determine that things will be different from this time forward.

Regrets can point the way to a better life if they force you to commit to better choices, and this is how you overcome your regrets. The author points out two other positives that can come from your regrets, so I continue to highly recommend the book to you.