Don’t Carry Regret Alone

“𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲.”
Thomas Blake, a wellness writer, wrote about a nurse who spent years listening at the edge of life. One patient said: “I didn’t regret failing - I regretted never auditioning.”

Blake reflected on those words:
“𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬. But failure fades. Regret hardens.”

Standing on the TEDx stage yesterday, I felt that truth.
But got up there anyway.
Willing to embrace my nervousness.

Asking myself “am I ready?”
Wondering "what if I mess up and it doesn't work out?"

Blake challenges us to name the three things we’d most regret not doing.

It reminded me of what I tell my kids on their first days of school.
I kneel down, look them in the eyes, and say:
“Just go. You might be scared, but it will be okay. You might even like it.”

Then I watch them take that first step - growing a little braver with each stride.

Because the heaviest thing to carry isn’t failure.
It’s wondering what if.

Welcome to my Ted Talk.