I have wanted to write this particular blog for some time and now is the time! How long do we put off doing something? I can tell you in my life, I have put off really living it over and over. The title of this blog is from a song I heard a few years back at the end of a movie, “The Help”. If you read much of my work, you will not be surprised at the reference to a song or a movie.

Frequently I have thought about times and events in my life and wondered if I had known ahead of time how it would turn out, would I have done it anyway. Have you? Probably. That’s a normal question in life especially as we get a little older and down the highway of experience.

All the ‘shoulda’, ‘coulda’, ‘woulda’ questions we ask ourselves as we progress in our lives. Do you live with regrets for things in your life you think you would have done differently? I used to have regrets, lots of them. I can honestly say I don’t any longer. You might ask why? The mistakes and missteps are abundant and I could have made better decisions without question.

In the song “The Living Proof” here are a few lines to ponder that helped me turn my thinking around.

“It’s gonna be a long long journey
It’s gonna be an uphill climb
It’s gonna be a tough fight
There’s gonna be some lonely nights
But I’m ready to carry on
I’m so glad the worst is over
(‘Cause it almost took me out)
I can start living now
Ooh, I feel like I can do anything
And finally I’m not afraid to breathe
Anything you say to me
And everything you do
You can’t deny the truth
‘Cause I’m the living proof
So many don’t survive
They just don’t make it through
But look at me, oh
I’m the living proof”

Many times I let myself get into situations that were detrimental and stressful. Some were long term bad decisions and getting free from them took what seemed like forever. I regretted having allowed myself to get in the situations. Making the decision to get free was challenging and as the song says, it was an uphill journey, a long climb and yes, some very lonely nights and times. However, I can say I faced the truth that it was my decisions that put me in those very situations. It was also my decision to live my life now that changed and is still changing everything.

I am living proof that it can be done; you can survive and more than that, you can thrive in life. I learned how to breathe maybe for the first time in my life; really breathe. To be real here, some decisions were forced upon me yet opened my eyes to see I was not being who I truly am meant to be. In recent months I have been looking at old photos and reading my journals from past years. I came through a variety of hard times.

Over the last few years I’ve learned to let any and all regrets go. They can and will eat you alive. I’ve witnessed that a number of times. Own your story, the good, the bad and the ugly. I did and you can also. Let blame go! Regretting keeps us stuck in our cycle of the past. That’s no way to live. As a matter of fact, that’s not living. If I had clung to the regrets of my bad decisions, I would not be where I am now and seeing my life as ‘my life’.

Do I have scars? You bet I do. They made me stronger and I take those learnings and leave the rest. I am the living proof you can change your life. Leave the past! Release it! Let it go! Live YOUR life! You’ve only got one life. Make it count.