Tag Archive for regret

Why Regret Is a Useless Emotion And What To Do Instead 

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Regret is a load of baggage that you lug through life. And it doesn’t get any lighter as the years go by.

Let’s lighten things up a bit with this GenuLines look at some alternatives.

Why Regret Is a Useless Emotion And What To Do Instead 

So you’re feeling sad, sorry or disappointed over something that you did or did not do. This is the textbook definition of regret.

And regret can cause terrible feelings of guilt, sadness, and even depression.

man feels regret

In its extreme, anxiety can soon turn into anger or resentment. You can be so unhappy with your lot in life that you begin to take that anger out on others.

Although regret is a common emotion, it’s pointless.  You can’t go back in time and change past decisions.

When you live in your regret, you’re wishing for a new outcome from an old script. This a functioning level of insanity, but insanity nonetheless.

And it can cause emotional and sometimes physical distress.

Regret can also play a major role in impacting happiness. If you feel regret you may be hard on yourself; almost to the point of severe self-pity.

A big problem here is that you cloud your ability to trust in yourself.

You’ll continue to defer to the past as opposed to looking toward the future. Basking in regret will leave you blind to the good in front of you.

Although it seems easy to wallow in regret, it’s self-harming.

How to Combat Regret 

Acceptance is the key to overcoming your regret. Trying to change the past is impossible and only results in frustration.

So it’s important to make peace with your previous decisions and move forward. Take responsibility for your actions and learn how to make better choices in the future.

Making the best of your bad choices shows maturity and positive thinking. Once you make a decision it’s done.

Instead of worrying about the past, why not find something positive in your present. This involves asking yourself some questions:

 What can I do to make this situation better?

 How can I adjust my attitude to see the positive?

 What can I currently change?

These questions can help you analyze your current situation and look for the best. This will turn your negative disposition toward the positive.

Being able to overcome feelings of regret can make you a stronger person. You’re embracing positivity as opposed to living in the past.

One way to turn your regrets into an opportunity is to think about any good that’s resulted. Have you grown as a person?

Have you learned a valuable lesson?

These questions will help you to further see the good in your past. Yes, regret can be frustrating and painful.

But you have the power to keep it from controlling you.

JohnK 12-4-2023

chiforyourself.com

Stick figure hears about regretOverheard: “Never regret anything you have done with a sincere affection; nothing is lost that is born of the heart”

 Basil Rathbone

Article image by @felipepelaquim on Unsplash

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Find Your Authenticity by Embracing Your Inner Self

With all the madness we’re seeing in society it’s easy to lose connection with our authenticity. Who can be blamed for feeling a little like part of the “herd mentality?” 
 
GenuLines understands that feeling and offers this bit of support for staying connected to your “genuine self.”
 

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Find Your Authenticity by Embracing Your Inner Self

Human beings have an inherent tendency to avoid standing out from the crowd. From the very beginning, our survival relied on safety in numbers. 
 
And that habit stays a part of our nature despite any real need for in today’s world. This reality flies in the face of a society that lives on social media.
 
Every day there’s pressure to mask your authentic self. It could be at work, with friends, or on social media.
 
In this article, we look at a few of the many reasons that embracing your inner self benefits you. And how it can benefit most everyone around you.
 
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One of the best traits of human beings is that each of us is unique. We differ in our individual talents, abilities, perspectives, and so on.
 
But we often mask these differences to avoid standing out. This deprives us and others of the benefits of our self-expression.
 
Think about history’s greatest inventions and discoveries. These came from people willing to be different and to resist the status quo.
 
We do want to accept ourselves. But this can clash with the need to fit in.
 
When you’re able to embrace your inner self and go against the grain, you invite others to do the same.
 
When people around you notice your self-acceptance they’re more likely to follow suit! It’s a ripple effect.
 
The others gain from the fellowship of collective talent and abilities.
 
It’s ironic that you burn more energy blending in than by being your genuine self.
Going with the crowd involves a conscious effort to act and behave a certain way at all times.
 
It wastes mental resources you can use in much better ways. Going your own way can bring impressive results.

No Regrets

One of the most painful feelings we can experience is that of regret. You don’t need a reminder to know that life is short.
 
If you squander your gifts the sad day will eventually come when you’re aware of what you did.
 
Often the most monumental chances in life come and go in the blink of an eye. And when those chances are gone they’re gone.
 
By embracing your inner self, you can mitigate so much regret down the road.
 
Standing out from the crowd will feel odd at first.
But, you’ll find that the benefits to you and those around you are more than worth it!
 
JohnK 8-3-2020
 
Stick figure hears about authenticityOverheard: “To find yourself, think for yourself”
                                 ~Seneca
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Wallowing Over Google Gremlins :-( And a Link to The Tina Gilbertson Interview

 

Picture of Tina GilbertsonApologies for problems on the Google Hangouts page that muted the audio for the Tina Gilbertson interview! Tina is the author of Constructive Wallowing: How to Beat Bad Feelings by Letting Yourself Have Them. Tina turned conventional wisdom around with her explanation of how “constructive wallowing” can help in dealing with feelings. A list of talking points follows, and you can hear the interview by clicking on the BlogTalkRadio logo.

 

CHI FOR YOURSELF guest: Tina Gilbertson talking points:

  • Isn’t wallowing an oxymoron?
  • Having a good cry might not be enough
  • Self-criticism is not healing
  • Anger, temper, and wallowing
  • The T.R.U.T.H. Technique
  • Hatred, and working through it
  • Self-compassion toward yourself
  • Trying to replace a feeling with a thought
  • The benefits of constructive wallowing
  • Forgiveness- the policy and the emotion
  • The wallowing end-point

 

You can hear the CHI FOR YOURSELF interview with Tina Gilbertson by clicking on the BlogTalkRadio logo:

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JohnK 9-12-2014

chiforyourself.com home

Today: Wallowing is Good For You!

 

Child hiding faceToday’s guest on Chi For Yourself is Tina Gilbertson. She says pushing bad feelings away never works, and she’ll offer us a practical approach to the more liberating alternative of allowing yourself to feel them. Chi For Yourself – at 4pm Eastern, 1pm Pacific time. Hear the interview at chiforyourself.com

 

 

 

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Tina Gilbertson is the author of Constructive Wallowing: How to Beat Bad Feelings by Letting Yourself Have Them.

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Tina Gilbertson

 

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Overheard

 

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love an affection”

~ Gautama Buddha

 

 

 

JohnK 9-11-2014

chiforyourself.com home