Freedom = Choosing = Purpose
“If I had any regrets, Bronnie, it would be that I wish I’d not spent so many years in an average job. Life is over so quickly.” - Bronnie Ware, The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying
It sounds a bit cliché when we hear no regrets. Nobody wants to think about lying on their death bed and having remorse for things unsaid and incomplete. I get that.
But what if thinking about it leads you to go deep and reflect.
That, my friend, can be one of the most worthwhile things you have done for yourself. Self-care at it’s prominent best. Nothing comes closer to self-care than stepping into what the self truly wants and needs to feel whole. To feel worth. To feel destiny.
I don’t say this lightly. The opposite.
I made a decision when my dad started having dementia that I would make him a focal point for I knew the time was shorter with him than it had ever been. I wanted no regrets that I didn’t spend enough time with him while I could. While he still knew me. While we could still have conversation.
He was an hour away. I went him to see him every week. Sometimes twice. Sometimes three times. When the weather was bad and I didn’t feel like it – I still went.
I kept telling myself I don’t want to look back and feel as if I didn’t spend time. No regrets. He became my purpose. It was a conscious decision daily.
He has been gone two and a half years now. To this day I am so thankful I made the time. I followed my purpose.
Then life became unsettled for a while and I had to find a new purpose. Which I have. Which is why I am writing this today.
I discovered that making a conscious, deliberate, decision and following through was so worth it for me. It wasn’t easy by no means. But as my dad regressed into the abyss of dementia where he could no longer speak – we held hands. I would stare at our hands and know it was worth more than anything in the world to me.
Susan xo