Having gone through some pretty rough times in the past 10 years (and they have flown past very rapidly), I have beaten myself up mentally for not being savvy or wise on many things in the early days of my life & career.
However, I also realized that I have been ignoring the lessons learnt and convictions that have helped me find my way through the trials. There are things we can control and then there are things that we do not. We may not know why we go through some of the trials in life, but in the end, things always work out for the better as long as we stay true to the goal.
Have faith, in yourself and in God. Stay grounded.
Retrospectives are good for projects and in life. Life has significantly more unknown risks. So, beating ourselves up for missed opportunities, decisions that didn’t work out as planned etc. is just not worth the time spent worrying on those.
Worry is like a rocking chair. It will you something to do but it will not take you anywhere.
Learn, adapt and move on.
There is more to life than keeping an artificial purpose and barrelling towards it through meticulously crafted plans that have to keep changing, trying to operate everyday like a Shinkansen, ever optimizing for every scenario but failing to live the journey ultimately.
Most importantly, good things in life need a great amount of effort and a more than disproportionate amount of time. We don’t know when this journey will end, so savor it.
Neither catastrophizing nor feeding your FOMO would help move time any slower or faster.
Be smart about where to focus your efforts.
Slow down.
Life is not a race. Certainly not a marathon.
Read that again.
Slow. Down.
Never fear anything. Especially anything material.
Leaving you with something I liked from the book “Dune” by Frank Herbert.
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.