How Much Regret Are You Living With?

My clients talk to me alot about regret.
 
Regret for the life they wanted to live but didn't because:

- husband/wife/significant other/children "stopped" them

- life got in the way and seemingly passed them by

- they were too stubborn to let go of a disagreement

- they focused too much on what people would think

- they followed the unwritten rules of life

and on and on... 

Whatever their particular regret, it's like at that point they stopped living and simply started existing. Sleep (badly), Eat, Work, Housework, Rinse, Repeat. Day after day.

Something in them switched off and they became a different, less colourful version of themselves. They were just going through the motions until they could lie down and forget it all again.
 
Yet, there's a little voice inside them, that is desperate to break free, to really live, to shine the way it was born to shine. It keeps them in mental anguish and exhaustion.
 
They say to me, "I don't want to get to the end of my life with more regrets than I have now." That is like music to my ears. The first step in contemplating change.
 
When you've spent your life pleasing others, moulding yourself into what they need from you, being dutiful or forever compromising, learning about yourself, your wants and needs can seem so foreign. Almost as though it's forbidden. That is just conditioning making you feel that way.
 
It is worth it.

Personally, I'm not someone who has regrets, but I do know what it is like to start to trust and accept myself which was the scariest, but most worthwhile journey I've ever taken. I highly recommend it!
 
If you have that little faint voice inside that's nagging at you, start tuning in and listening.

If you find you are weighed down by so many regrets, ask yourself what you would prefer your life to be and what that would take.
 
If you are unsure, terrified or overwhelmed at the prospect, get in touch. As a therapist I will listen, guide, counsel and coach. With the added bonus on rewiring your brain for successful outcomes.
 
Don't spend your life regretting that you lost yourself along the way.

Life can change when you make the decision to take the very next step.
 
 "One of the greatest regrets in life, is being who others want you to be, rather than being yourself!" Shannon Adler.