Do-Overs

If you could change your biggest challenge, pain or regret – would you? The one stipulation is you must accept all that comes with that new reality.

One of my recommended inspirational bookclub selections is The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, a computer scientist who died of pancreatic cancer last year. His last lecture wasn’t about dying, but about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment because “time is all you have . . . and you may find one day that you have less than you think.”

We are not allowed the luxury of making day-to-day decisions with the 20/20 vision of hindsight. The life best lived is the one with the fewest regrets. Or that’s what I say anyway. Does that mean we never make mistakes or errors in judgment? Impossible. Make amends, apologies, and restitution, extend forgiveness, and then most importantly forgive yourself. If you review the past, make it only a visit -- not an extended stay. “Rolling in the muck, is not the best way of getting clean.”

Regrets? I have a few, but they come not from the things I did, but from the things I did not do. Was there something left unsaid or undone? Not anymore. If you have good thoughts about someone, tell them . . . it’s a sin to withhold a compliment. “Reflect on your present blessings of which every man has many – not on your past misfortunes of which all men have some.” After a very arduous marathon with adversity, I have learned to live in the moment, laugh 'til I cry (often) and love with an open heart. As Elder Wirthlin said, "Come what may, and love it."

"The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had last year."

Next week: Tell us about your all-time Worst Neighbor, ever.