“I have no regrets, because I’ve done everything I could to the best of my ability.”

Robert Redford

How many of us can truly say this? That we have done EVERYTHING to the best of our ability? I know that I certainly can’t say this about everything in life. I can say that for those times when I fell short of my goals, yet did everything to the very best of my abilities at the time, I have no regrets about the outcomes.

I say “abilities at the time” because for several examples that come immediately to mind I took the opportunity to step back and review the shortcomings and tried to figure out how to enhance my skills and abilities for the next time I would be faced with a similar challenge. It is not always successful but it has helped me to grow and improve and not be willing to settle for the status quo.

Do you have regrets? Do those regrets anchor you to the past or serve as a launching pad for the future? Have you expanded your abilities because of active reflection and review or just accepted them as they are?