Moving From Regret To Inner Peace

In this talk, Geoff Bell-Devaney discusses ways that we can mindfully accept whatever we might happen to be experiencing that is causing regret and meet it with compassion and acceptance. In doing this, we can begin to more easily start to let go of this challenging emotion and experience greater insight and peace as a result.

Transcript

When we're experiencing regret. We, Of course, Are living in the past. We're either regretting something that we did that we wish we hadn't have done, Or we perhaps are regretting something that we didn't do that we wish we had done. Regardless, We're gonna experience the pain of that longing as thoughts. We're gonna be bombarded with typically negative thoughts of why didn't I or why did I, And we're gonna be experiencing those in the present moment. And well. We can't change the past. We can meet it in the present moment. And the way that we can do that is to acknowledge what we're thinking and what we're feeling. And if we're having a lot of thoughts, We can bring our awareness from those thoughts into our body and feel the emotions that are being stirred up. Rather than trying to live in the past and create a scenario. That is ultimately a story that's making us. Uncomfortable. We can perhaps see regret as an opportunity to grow in compassion, As a way to better meet ourselves in this moment with empathy, Understanding, And presence, And softness. We ultimately are the only ones that can truly forgive ourselves to the degree that we need to. And if it's an action that we regret, Or perhaps something that, Again, We didn't do that could have, We imagine, Made a big difference in our lives. Nonetheless, We are where we are, And we can't change the past. Everyone knows that. But we can change the future. And if we don't change the future by meeting our regretful thoughts and the emotions that go with them with presence and with compassion, We're just destined to experience them over and over again going forward.