I am sure all of us from time to time think about the past. Maybe you go as far back as when you were a child and might do something different. Maybe you think about high school and wish you would have taken a French or Spanish class a little more seriously. Perhaps you think about what your life would have been like if you made a different choice or started that hobby, sport or job earlier than you did.
So now that I have gotten you to relax (hopefully) and think about your past, how do you fill in the blanks on this statement:
I wish I would have ____________ earlier in my life.
For me it is an interesting question. Does my answer involve my professional life or personal life? After much consideration it is my personal life. Since sports are a very important part of my life, I wish I would have started stretching and working out with a professional trainer earlier in my life. There are a number of reasons why I chose this as my answer:
- My body isn’t flexible at all. Most days I get out of bed and can’t even touch my knees.
- I have a number of aches and pains, and feel if I had stretched out properly they would probably be much less.
- I would have loved to have played tennis into my 70′s and 80′s which would have probably been possible if I knew how to take better care of my body.
How do you fill in the blanks of this statement:
I wish I would have ____________ earlier in my life.
I look forward to your comments.
Tim Sunderland says:
My answer is the same as yours. I lefted weights and ran all my life, but it was not until my late 40s that I took it seriously and worked out with a regimen.
#2:
I wish I would have started saving for retirement earlier in my life, but is it not that way for all of us?
Tom Lix says:
I wish I would have spent more time with my children earlier in my life. You never get that time back.
Tammie Frost-Norton says:
I wish I would have started yoga earlier in my life. I love the practice – the calm and focus. But I will share, Merrill, that you can start anytime and increase flexibility! The balance poses help you all the way into old age to avoid the classic broken hip issues!
Bob Graham says:
In general I have no regrets. I’ve made some mistakes, but working through them helped to make me what I am.
I do regret, though, that I never learned to play a musical instrument. I envy those people who can just pick up a guitar or sit down at a piano and belt out a song.
Amy Shields says:
I wish I would have realized how precious each moment is earlier in life and not wasted time on anger or resentment. I had to learn to “let it roll”, but I did learn to!
Willie Martin says:
Hello Merrill.
I wish I would have NEVER started drinking/smoking so early in my life! Isn’t it funny how when you are young, you’re in such a rush to become an adult that once you do, the time FLIES by?!
I turn 44 next month and sometimes feel like I have little to show for what I have done. Yes I quit drinking 10.5 years ago, and quit menthol 51 months ago, and even lost 50 pounds one year ago…yet… like some of the other respondees, I wonder if perhaps I have missed out on the joys of parenthood, allowing a life partner to help complete me, had a little more compassion and patience around those I could not tolerate. The price you pay in being a lone wolf…
I do understand however that whatever it is you ask for in life, ultimately you will get that. That phrase,’Careful what you ask for…’ Life gives, and in so doing, life takes. My advice for the younguns is that the lessons never end…Walk your path and when you come to a fork in the road, be like Yogi Berra and take it!
Take care Merrill!