“I Have No Regrets” Should be a Mantra for Modern Boomers
Ok, I’m not a big sports fan. That said, there’s one statistic that has always amazed me. Many people know that, in 1923, the famous baseball player, Babe Ruth, broke the record for most home runs in a season.
Fewer people know that, during the same year, he struck out more times than any other player. Why? Because, he was fearless. He wasn’t afraid to “go for it.” He hit more home runs, but, he also missed more opportunities as well.
How Many People Can Say “I Have No Regrets?”
The ability to embrace failure and learn from our mistakes is a life skill that many older women have learned. Over six decades, we have embraced change. We have lived and loved. We have tried new things.
Society offered us new work opportunities, the freedom to travel and more options when it came to our families. Looking back, it’s easy to focus on the missed opportunities – or the times when, like Babe Ruth, we struck out. When we do so, we often forget about the successes that we have been a part of.
Talking to the other women in our community, I can tell you that the happiest among us have learned to live without regrets – or, at the very least, not focus and dwell on their regrets.
This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, by Lucille Ball, who said, “I’d rather regret the things I’ve done, than regret the things I haven’t done.”
As younger women, we had the opportunity to do many things for the first time. Like Babe Ruth, we often crashed and burned. The important thing to remember is that our memories are not fixed in stone.
We can choose the frame with which we interpret our past. We can select the lens through which we view our failures… and successes.
Most of all, we can choose to say, “I have no regrets” and live the rest of our lives with passion and verve!
Do you agree with Lucille Ball when she says that she would rather regret the things that she hasn’t done than the things she has done? Why or why not? Do you think that, after 60, we have earned the right to let our past go and live our life on our terms? Please join the conversation.
