Climbing Ben Nevis last weekend
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
H Jackson Brown, Jr (often misattributed to Mark Twain)
No one died wishing they spent more time at the office.
Rabbi Harold Kushner (or possibly Senator Paul Tsongas)
Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.
Sydney J Harris
Regret of neglected opportunity is the is the worst hell that a living soul can inhabit.
Rafael Sabatini (who’d obviously never been bitten by a Scottish midge)
The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.
Harriet Beecher Stowe
For all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: “It might have been!”
John Greenleaf Whittier
So never mind the decluttering and organising…
…book that holiday…
…get out in the sunshine…
…text your mate to meet for a coffee.
Yeah…except…not quite.
I was recently reading about how to avoid regret.
Turns out what we’re most likely to regret isn’t not doing what we know we should…
…probably because, when we don’t do something we know we should,…
…we usually try to put things right.
The regrets that stick are regrets about not fulfilling our dreams…
…because, when we don’t prioritise our ambitions…
…we’re only hurting ourselves.
So we leave our personal goals on the back burner…
…often until it’s too late.
OK, so it still sounds like we should hang the decluttering and play all the time, right?
Except that what we feel like doing right this second…
…may NOT be what it takes to fulfil our deepest ambitions for ourselves.
The older I get, the more I’m prioritising the ever-growing list of things I want to do.
Like climbing the tallest mountain in the UK…
(Four days ago as I write this and stairs still make me wince!)
…playing badminton…
…taking singing lessons (and practicing!)…
…swing dancing…
…Body Combat (fitness) classes…
…hiking….
…travelling…
…simply hanging out with friends…
…and so much more.
But here’s the thing…
There’s a REASON I can pack all this into my life…
…AND work enough to pay for it all.
I’m constantly finding ways to make my home (and life) more efficient…
…refining the way my stuff is organised…
…decluttering…
…so I’ve only got what I want and need…
…and I can lay my hand instantly on everything.
Sometimes, the steps on the way to what we want aren’t as immediately attractive as the end goal.
It can seem like we can cut that corner and still have the life we want.
But trust me…
…the time you invest in decluttering and organising?
You’ll get it back with interest.
Giving you MORE time to spend fulfilling your dreams, not less.
What’s on your bucket list? What’s stopping you doing it? What will become possible when you declutter and organise your home? Comment below.