All my life I have always heard people saying to not live life with regrets. It is an easy thing to say out loud, but to live out that motto is a challenge on its own.
As you get older, you start to make mistakes that are a little more serious than lying to your parents about finishing all your homework. Once you start to become more of an adult, the mistakes get easier to make, and they get harder to deal with. Some of these mistakes can turn out to be regrets you have later on in life, but most of the regrets people have are ones they didn't think were a mistake in the moment, and then it is too late.
With that being said, my biggest regret at the age of 19 is taking people and opportunities for granted.
I would have never thought in my life I would ever lose so many people who were so close to me by the age of 19. Not only have I lost extremely close family members over the past few years, but also one of my best friends. Saying goodbye to people is hard enough on its own, even if you know you are going to see them again soon. However, not being able to say goodbye to someone you will never see again will always be the hardest.
I've noticed after every time the tragic event of losing someone happens, I am in complete and utter shock at what happened, and I start to think the same thing every time. What was the last thing I said to them? When was the last time I saw them? Did I tell them I loved them? These questions race through my head all day every day. And when I come to the conclusion that I could have done more, I could have been nicer, I could have spent more time with them, it always breaks my heart every single time.
In this life, I've come to realize and come to terms with the fact that we will never be promised a certain amount of time with anyone. You need to make the most of the time you have with the people you love before your time has run out.
I've regretted every time I didn't say I loved them when I could have, or the times I canceled plans with them or did not go see them when I should have spent time with them. Lastly, I realized to never leave a fight or negative feelings unresolved because if that is the last time you see them, that is something you will never forgive yourself for.
Regretting these things is never an easy thing. I personally don't want to live with any regrets in my lifetime, and thankfully, since I have noticed my mistakes and what I wanted to change in the way I go about life, it has changed my life for the better. Never again will I regret the things I do now, and now that I have learned from these regrets, I wanted to share with everyone how important it is to not ever take someone or an opportunity for granted because you don't know how long you will have it.
Some might read this article and think that this is so cliché and that I don't mean what I am saying. I just want everyone to know that regretting something is a terrible feeling because you can never change it no matter how hard you try, but don't be afraid to learn from people's regrets and mistakes, so you don't have to make the same ones.
Tell your friends and family you love them every day, never leave an argument or disagreement unresolved, and always take the risk and the opportunities because you might regret it if you don't. Live your life with no regrets.
