The Only Regret That Will Haunt You Your Whole Life

My friend desperately wanted to quit his job. He hated it, the environment drained him of energy. The people were not his tribe. But he clung to it, afraid to let go of the income, afraid of life on the outside. Just another year, he said. Just another month. Then, six years after he first raised leaving his job, he finally did it. Quit. We celebrated. He began to recalibrate his life. He began to do things he’d always wanted to try. He crackled with energy. His conversation was filled with phrases like “it’s all about living well; we need to design our lives for who we truly are.” Within a year he was dead, killed in a random accident. Aged 51, and in perfect health. Way too soon. <h1>This is what I wondered…</h1> Regrets come up all the time in therapy. There are SO many variations on the theme. People are often full of regret about the things they’ve done or wrong turns they’ve taken — in work, career and relationships. They often regret hurting or treating someone badly, wasting too much time and money. Then there are the things they didn’t do — travel the world, take more risks, save their money, spend enough time with a loved one while they had the chance, gone to College (or not), started that business, wrote that novel, look after their body, asked their crush on a date. Giving up on their dreams too soon. But the one that really gets them — that can dog them their whole life is not being true to the person they were, or are, in their hearts. It’s living their lives for, or on behalf of, others; it’s hooking their trailer to the status quo and letting it choose the journey. <a href="https://medium.com/on-the-couch/the-only-regret-that-will-haunt-you-your-whole-life-bf063ea80166">Learn More</a>