Doing it Over Again

If you were given the chance to live your life over again, would you? No rules attached, just freedom to start fresh? If I am allowed to live the new life with knowledge that I now have, I think this would be a pleasure. For example, here are the top elements I would hopefully remember to include.

1.      Invest in myself with as much education as I can stand and afford; if that means a PhD in an academic field of interest, so be it. If that means exposure to as much training in a skill field like electrician or construction, then let that be so. My life’s journey will be only as great as my willingness to learn and invest time and effort in equipping myself with the right tools.

2.      Take risks. Experience more of life. Don’t be foolish about safety and health but dare to be embarrassed by failure; it is by making mistakes that we learn the most. Seek the limits of a situation and focus work on those. Playing safe earns little advance in knowledge, experience or ground covered.

3.      Learn to love myself unabashedly. This is not hubris; it is the raw material that enables me to love another fully. They win and I win from this magic. Fearing reaction of others hindered my growth in love. Such a waste of time!

4.      Experiment with expressing myself via art – music, visual, three dimensional shapes and textures. Learning to communicate through art is a thrill and joy I wish I had learned many years earlier. Appreciating the messages of artists is a double pleasure – knowing them in their complexity, and training my mind to think outside of itself.

5.      Enjoy nature often. It is our natural nest of life. Smelling it, feeling it, seeing it, tasting it and hearing it makes it so real. Embracing it embraces the self, too. It is a connection to the spiritual world. 

6.      Allow the brain to consider broad issues of theology and philosophy. Think on these things. Do not rush to conclusions. Let my mind and senses percolate and appreciate the breadth and importance of such matters. Likewise, appreciate these issues in the life of others. Do not judge others by what we do not understand.

7.      Truly focus on what I would like the future to hold for me. Define that future as fully as possible. Think of ways to make it happen. Play with those ideas until a core of them seem logical to work well towards building the desired future.

8.      Trust more in others. Hope they will come to trust me. Build collaborative relationships with others in community and career fields.

9.      Balance my life among family, self, community and career. Wholeness is the healthy goal.

10.   Schedule quiet time at the start and end of each day. Calmly consider what is ahead for the day and assess its outcomes. Quietly think on these matters without fretting.

That’s it. I’m sure there are other elements I could and should include, but these ten should cover most elements and allow others to emerge as needed. In retirement I have learned the above. What might have been the results of my life’s work had I applied these lessons throughout my time on earth?


Good question. No crying over lost opportunity. But now I can take the time to mentor others to improve their outcomes.

I wonder if they will listen and learn?


June 4, 2020