I was just looking at my memories of google photos from last year and stumbled upon one of the photos where I looked quite fine. The photo was from some trip but I was looking fitter than today. I used to go to the gym back then and I had done it consistently for three months.
Usually, I’m very bad with my workout routine and all but last year I was very serious.
I had followed it actively because I had some backlog of health debt so had no other option.
After a few months, I had some other priorities and I did not continue it. The other priority was my laziness and perhaps I gave much more importance to it.
Also, I thought why should I take some extra time and effort to build my physique unless its not much required. I dont want to go somewhere and do some modelling-like stuff so I will just be focused on my primary work more. If I were to be a model then definitely I would have made six pack abs and all other things.
Sometimes this is how i justify my excuses and avoid that extra push and run away from new challenges. Later I realized I wanted to learn a new hobby and that was playing guitar. I could have learned it earlier in my college days as well. I missed it and I regret it now.
Again I thought I should have taken the other stream of engineering and my life would have been so different by now. Then I thought I should have taken the offer of the other company instead of the current one and so on.
We always think about the other path that we didnt follow and keep on wondering how it would have made a difference to our lives. Most of the time we end up regretting the decisions we didnt take.
But Its always not the same case but our perception that the grass would have been greener on the other side. We never consider that some decisions were wrong at that time and you chose the right ones.
Also, we should not blame ourselves regarding the choices we made even if did not turn in our fever. Nobody is perfect and has the ability to do all things perfectly all the time.
There’s a Japanese concept of living a meaningful life known as ‘Wabi-Sabi’. It means we should not run behind the unrealistic pursuit of perfection and materialistic wealth. It simply means that you only need the bare minimum and not the perfect one.
It means there’s a beauty in the imperfection and accept the most natural phase of life. The sea shells are not perfectly carved yet they are beautiful. The cactus and palm trees are not perfect as per the standards but still, they are adored by a lot of people. Just accept the way you are today becuase you’re in the most authentic and natural state of life.
When we accept ourselves with all the imperfection then we become aware of our limitations. Then we dont set the unrealistic expectations and dont stress about it. This is the zone where growth happens. So, we should seek for the excellence and not for the perfection. This is how you can break that chain of regret and accept yourself the way you are.
So the bottom line is to never regret about anything and being more kind to yourself because you are real and beautiful!