Serenity Tip: Stop Regret by Starting Fresh

If you tend to dwell in regret and beat yourself up, you can find your way back to serenity if you remember that you CAN START FRESH.

Every day is a fresh slate in which you can make new choices about how you behave. In fact, every MOMENT is a fresh opportunity to make a change.

First, you have to let go of the past, the action you regret, because whatever has happened in the past is now out of our control. We can’t change it, can’t take it back, can’t undo it.

We CAN, however, learn from it. Look at what happened, understand what you did and why. Accept the part you played. Consider what you need to do to make amends. Brainstorm alternatives, ways you can change your behavior for the next time. Then let it go.

Then work on developing a repertoire of new behaviors to try out so that the next time you’re in a similar situation, you have the possibility of behaving in a new way, a way you’ll be more proud of and have less regret over.

I remember making a mistake at work and being so overwhelmed with anxiety and regret that I couldn’t function. I went outside by the river near the office and reset my mind: just because my morning sucked didn’t mean my afternoon had to. I decided to start fresh, to clear my mind, accept and forgive myself, and move into the rest of the day with an intention to do things differently. I felt so much better!

You don’t have to get mired in regret. Every day is a fresh slate. So put aside your self-recriminations. Brainstorm your new set of choices for how you want to behave in a given situation. And then practice. Do things differently, see how you feel, keep adapting.

Let yourself be imperfect. Accept your mistakes and missteps. Every human makes them. But the ones who learn from them are the ones who grow.

Over time you’ll make less of the same mistakes, though you’ll never stop making new ones. And that’s ok, that’s how we learn and grow.

What can you let go of and start fresh today?

Photo by Boram Kim on Unsplash