How to Live Without Regret

Photo by Taylor Young on Unsplash

Another bonus post. 'Cause why not and what else do I have to do besides all the usual things that I've been doing for weeks since the quarantine started? As you noted by the title, this is about living without regret. This is something that has been on my heart for a while, to share how to get rid of that annoying regret.
If you're anything like me, you would have regrets that happened days, weeks, months and even years ago. I know what it is to have regret dwelling in my head for days. A lot of times, it would go away only to return to haunt you (like when you're trying to sleep). "I wish I didn't do that," your thoughts would go. "I wish did this differently."
And having experienced this so many times, and getting sick of it, I came across ways to overcome it. Don't get me wrong, I still struggle with regrets but now I have "tools" to help me to dwell on them for a shorter time. Maybe when I'm old, it would be for a minute or even a second.

1. Pray about it with God. This would be the first thing I would do (when i remember to). I think it's helpful to express your regret and then try to give it to Him. And you can keep giving it over because there's no limit to Him, right?
2. Stop thinking about it. I think this is not easy but consciously decide to not think about it anymore. Maybe try to do something distracting like read a book, listen to music, draw, watch a movie. I have found this helpful for myself.
3. Move on. Yes, decide to looked ahead instead of back. Say to yourself that you're no longer going to dwell on what had been and could have been. Look to the future and what could be.
4. Apologise. If you hurt someone and regret it, it's a good thing to say sorry, even if this person was mean to you. If you regret it, then confessing it would go a long way. It helps with moving on.
5. Learn from it. Sometimes the things that bugged you is because when you did something, and later regret it, it's because you realise you could have done it differently, and better. Yeah, been there. So here's the final tip for you: learn what you did wrong and try to do it next time.
6. Bonus tip: look up bible verses. And put them on the walls or where you can see them daily. Use these to remind yourself to have no need for regret. Jesus died so we can be free from such things like regret.

I hope these might help you, if tackling regret in your constant life or even in a little way. Let us live without regret. Who needs it? Not me, and I bet you don't either. 

(I don't know about you, but this post weirdly seems to fit with the whole coronavirus stuff.)