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ВИШНЕВСКАЯ ВИКТОРИЯ ЮРЬЕВНА ©

‘ought’ regrets are potholes (выбоины) on the road. Those were
problems, but now they’re behind you.” – Tom Gilovich.
Let’s ponder a couple of questions:
What is it that you currently regret most about your life?
What do you most not want to regret about your life when your time is
up?
People regret their inactions (бездействие) more than their actions in the
long term. Not falling in love, not hanging out (тусить) with good
friends, and not working toward a healthy body are just a couple of
common themes.
Maybe you never started writing that book despite your love for writing.
Perhaps you haven’t set up your own dream business because you were
afraid of what people would think if you actually tried.
The thing is, taking action is that first step (начать что-то делать –
первый шаг к тому, чтобы) to ensure (обеспечить) you avoid regrets.
Confidence comes with taking action. Making a commitment
(обязательство) to follow through and then having the courage
(мужество) to do it builds the momentum (стимул).
If we don’t fearlessly pursue (бесстрашно преследовать) these things,
we start blaming ourselves (винить самих себя) for not taking action
and the regret compounds (компелкс сожалений).
 The Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda. If you are clear on our
purpose and priorities in life, you can create the personal power
necessary to push through (идти дальше), and take action on the
things that matter most.
When you make a decision to focus on the most important things in life,
you’ll move from “woulda, coulda, shoulda” to “I lived a life worth
living” and “I made a difference.”
To get through the hardest journey, we need take only one step at a time,
but we must keep on stepping. – Chinese Proverb.
Bonnie Ware’s 2012 book The Top Five Regrets of the Dying tells us
[3]
much about living a life to minimize regrets. Ware spent many years in
palliative care (паллиативный уход), looking after patients who had
gone home to die. When she questioned these patients about any regrets
they had or anything they would do differently, a number of common
themes came up.
The five most common themes were, in descending order:
 I wish I’d had the courage to life a life true to myself, not the life
others expected of me.
 I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
 I wish I had the courage to express my feelings.
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