WHY YOU SHOULDN’T WASTE TIME WITH REGRET OR HATE

People make a mistake a long time ago, and they let it upset them. They waste months, even years, regretting it.

A person does something bad to them, and they waste months, even years, hating that person.

Life is short. Too short.

One year goes by faster than you know it. What were you doing this time last year? Doesn’t feel that long ago, does it?

One month goes by even faster. What were you doing this time last month?

Here is a little mental exercise to help you understand how short life is. Imagine if you saw each year as a big step. And each month as a small step.

And for the purpose of this exercise, let’s say that when someone turns 65 they will be too old or tired to do a lot more. Some people may say that age should be younger than 65, others older. But for this illustration, let’s say it’s 65.

If you are 32 years old now, you only have another 33 years or so to do what you can until you reach that point. That is 33 big steps, or 396 small steps (33 × 12 months).

That is not a lot of steps left. Our time is incredibly limited.

If you waste 4 months regretting something that happened, or hating someone for something from the past, that is 1% of your overall remaining time gone.

If you waste 4 years living in regret or hate, that is 10% gone! And if after reading this, you regret that you wasted time like this, you will lose even more time!

Let go of the regret, let go of the hate. Life is too short, your time is limited.

I’m not saying not to learn from your mistakes. Learn from them. But don’t regret them.

I’m not saying to trust the people that hurt you or let them back into your life. If you think they won’t change, avoid them and stay as far away from them as possible. But you don’t have to waste time hating them and wishing bad things will happen to them.

Whatever mistakes you made, whatever mistakes others made, stop dwelling on it. Learn from it. Learn what not to do. Learn who to avoid. Then stop replaying it in your mind.

Life is too short, your time is not enough.

You’re going to wake up one day very soon, having taken most of the steps you can take. You will wonder where all that time went, and if you could have used it better. Use those limited steps you have remaining, to walk in a direction that will make you proud when you get to the end of your journey.