In writing my new book, Life 2.0 – A New Beginning, I have had the opportunity to reflect on my life quite a bit—the ups and downs, the successes and failures, and the many different paths I have taken.
Are there things I regret? Sure. Things I could have done better—or perhaps not done at all? Absolutely. We all have moments like that. Sometimes those memories can cause us to be hard on ourselves, for good reason and sometimes for no reason at all. Negative self-talk is a powerful and dangerous thing. I’ve battled it most of my life, and I suspect many of you have as well.
Over the last few years, however, I realized something basic, something simple, something profound—and yes, something obvious. All that worry, anguish, and reliving of the past didn’t change a thing. All the regret, second-guessing, and replaying old mistakes in my mind served no one, including me.
Self-analysis can be a wonderful tool when it’s used to help us grow and improve. But left unchecked, it can eat you alive. You think about it, talk about it, dwell on it, and allow it to rob you of your peace…all for something that can never be changed.
C.S. Lewis once said:
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
While it’s true that you are where you are today because of your previous thinking and decisions, you don’t have to stay there. If you don’t like where you are, change your thinking. Try something new. Don’t keep pressing rewind and revisiting the past. Make new choices. Ask new questions. Seek new opportunities.
The past is a place to learn from, not a place to live.
Your future is still being written.