Mayans, My Way, and No Regrets

“Regrets, I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention.” The song “My Way” is a classic and I’ve heard it played at more than one funeral. Does it reveal how you are living your life? When you look back at the past year, do you say, “Dang, I had fun!” or do you shrug and say, “Oh well, maybe next year”?

If you are reading this that means we are still here and the world didn’t end. Those Mayans! Did they have a clue what a tizzy they created? Actually, it’s wonderful. Anything that gets people thinking and out of the rut is a good thing.

If the world had gone up in a puff of smoke, or our bodies turned into angels or cream puffs or whatever, would you have been able to take a final glimpse and say that you have no regrets and you did it your way?

I know many people, myself included, who did many years of doing it someone else’s way. We honor our parents, our spouses, our friends, our bosses, our children, our cat… Only when we begin to honor ourselves does the real love come out.

Yes, that’s correct. When you honor yourself, you then are able to love and honor all those other folks in a much bigger way. You being you, all of you, is what you came here to do. Does that make sense?

Let’s take it to the extreme. Say Abe Lincoln’s mama wanted him to be a lawyer and that he did. His heart yearned to be president yet he wanted to honor Mama and Mary and the guy at the corner store, so he stayed a lawyer. We would have missed out on a great president and the country could have turned out a whole lot differently.

Maybe you have told yourself for a long many years that you are good and right to stay stuck in this job, this marriage, this church, this friendship because that is what is a good person does. You are good. Be good to yourself.

What is it that you want to do? Deep down inside what is the one true inner voice saying?

“For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught; To say the things he truly feels …”

How often do you say what you truly feel? Do you hold yourself back? Do you put yourself last?

Loving yourself is the key to stress management and disease prevention. Doctors agree that at least 70-80% of disease is stress induced. We often experience stress because we are not living life our way.

You may think I’m nuts. That’s okay. You don’t have to read my column if it doesn’t resonate with you. I honor and respect that. I know I am a mushball; I also know that since I have started living life my way and honoring myself, I have improved my health, my wealth, my relationships, and my happiness.

You can too. The world didn’t end in 2012. It’s a new beginning. Every morning is a new beginning. If life as a whole is too big to tackle, just start with today. Live today your way. Incorporate a bit more levity and laughter. Speak up for yourself. Listen to yourself.

The Mayans were slightly off, you have another year or two to have some fun and live with no regrets. Why not give it a whirl?