As we kick off the last week, we shift the discussion to regret. But not before we give out three more SWELL prizes!
[ Get transcript ]
Stuff to Check Out
• Download the Regret-Finder-O-Matic!
• Read the Top 5 Regrets of the Dying.
• RSVP for the next Escape Lab LIVE, which is this Tuesday from 8:00-9:00pm CST.
SWELL Prizes
• Congrats to Monica, Kimberly, and Debbie! They win the Freedom, Eat Dessert First, and To the Moon and Back prints, respectively.
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Feel free to share any potential regrets you uncovered in your reflection time in the comments below…
This is another hard one. One regret would be not making more art.
Specifically long lasting art such as films, cartoons, animation, comics, books, etc.
Being a performer in the past and working a lot of odd jobs, those end when the show or work is over. My art can live on with or without me.
Having your art live on without you… that IS an amazing opportunity! Jason and I talk about this a lot!
THANK YOU FOR THE PRIZE!!!!! I cried……
Awwh!
HUGS!!!!!
Yes, this is a tough one. I think of wishing I’d spent more time doing my “alive” activities – the stuff that gets my heart buzzing and really makes me feel alive. Like writing, drawing – and I gotta admit, just plain old playing around and being absolutely silly. I don’t do these things professionally and purposely don’t even try – their worth comes from being unpolished, for me. Like when I draw comics, sometimes the funniest things are when a character’s arm is all unintentionally stretched out or crooked, or when I have to make them dodge the binder holes in the spiral bound notebooks I draw them in. And I love writing when my characters take the wheel and the story just spills out like a live adventure, with no need to try and proofread it again and again. But because I don’t do these things with the intention of being polished or professional, my adult side doesn’t see the use of them sometimes. I end up not doing these things I love as much as I’d probably want to in the long run.
On a lighter note, thanks for the prize! : ) I was really happy to see that, it was a boost to a rough day today. Having that spaghetti party was again one of those silly things I don’t do so much (Thou shall not play with stuffed animals), and I’m happy to see it made some people laugh.
I know what you mean, Kimberly… as adults, if we don’t find meaning and purpose in an activity, we naturally make it something that we don’t do as often. Valuable to identify as meaningful and purposeful!!
“alive activities.” < - - I like this.
One and a half years ago, I lost a close friend to cancer. She only lived 9 months after finding out that she was terminally ill. During those 9 months, she had little time to do anything as the cancer was advancing so rapidly. She was the same age I am now when she found out that she probably would not live a year. So over the past year, I have had plenty of time to consider what I would do if I found out that I was terminally ill. It made me committed to living more patiently, more kindly and counting the cost of my everyday activities. And because I am the same age as she was when she found out that she was dying, I made a commitment to myself to have this year of my birth be the one in which I made better decisions in regards to what I spent my time on, with whom I spent it, and the impact that my gifts, belongings, and contributions could make. If I have a bad day, I work hard to go that extra step so that someone else’s can be better than mine. I still have a ways to go but am happy with the direction thus far.
How inspiring, Mary! I have a friend who had a heart attack when she was pregnant with twins. It all worked out fine in the end, but it was pretty harrowing. Now she’s a speaker who talks to women about improving their heart health. She has a line I’ve always been fond of: “I got hit by a ton of bricks; want one?”
Many times it takes a tragedy in our own lives for us to wake up and live life the way we know we should; once in a while the wake up call comes in the life of someone close to us. Anytime we can try to use those bricks to remind us about what’s important is a good thing.
Thanks for the Freedom print! My kids are busy trying to decide where we will hang it so we can all enjoy it. We love your artwork!
On a more serious note, my biggest potential regret is not finding something to be passionate about now that my kids are growing up. My husband quit his job in 2008 to help found a start-up. Of course, that went nowhere because the market crashed a few months after they got started, but it led to him starting his own business, and while it was difficult for him, he loved it. He knows what he is passionate about, and after seeing him, I want that for myself. So addressing my biggest potential regret will be longer-term, I’m afraid, but it’s something I know I need to do to make myself happy in the long run.
Don’t forget that even long term goals have their start in baby steps today! Good luck, Monica!
Regret and guilt are close relatives who have been kicked out of my house, so while I know there is always potential, I’m not really seeing anything right now in my crystal ball. ;>) That’s not to say I didn’t have my run-ins with them earlier in my life. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, I weighed 200 pounds (not pretty for someone who barely reaches 5’2″). I was an unhappy and insecure person who ate trying to fill up a hole that could never be filled with food. I made poor decisions, even ones I knew weren’t right, and had to fight my way to a better me. When I left the overeating and emotional wreckage behind, I also left my regret and guilt behind. I realized they served no purpose, so I let them go, and now I let them come in the front door and walk them right out the back door when they invite themselves over for a visit.
Good for you Angela! What an inspiring example you are!