CHOICE: The act or instance of selection or choosing. Something that is preferred or preferable to others. An alternative.
REGRET: To feel sorrow or remorse for an act. A sense of loss, disappointment or dissatisfaction.
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It's amazing how many choices we make in a single day...deciding which check-out lane in Target is the fastest or what to eat for a snack...determining how much over the speed limit to go or what to watch on TV. The choices we make during a single day are endless! For every choice we make -good and bad - a multitude of options are left untried, each one an opportunity to second guess, brood and ask yourself that perilous question: "What if...?"
Hopefully we make sound and wise choices but sometimes we don't. That's where regret sets in! Regretting that second piece of pizza or the speeding ticket we earned for our bad driving. Regretting the extra money spent at Target or the time wasted in front of the television. Regret sneaks up on us after unwise choices are made. That's exactly what happened to me yesterday!
I had just finished my workout with Chad and I was undecided about whether I was going to use my extra free time to do cardio or just cool down and go home. Chad helped encourage me (and my guilt got the best of me) to do extra cardio so he suggested that I do 15 minutes on the treadmill on an 8 incline with no hands on the machine. I agreed. As I neared the last 5 minutes of the exercise, Chad had me increase the speed to challenge me...whether it was to challenge me physically or mentally only Chad really knows....but I kept chugging up the incline for the remaining 5 minutes when suddenly I had doubts that I could finish. My mind kept telling myself that I was too tired. My mind kept rationalizing that I had already done a full workout with Chad, I don't need to finish this exercise. My mind kept filling my head with doubts and before I knew it, with just over a minute left of the exercise, I stepped off the treadmill and onto the side rails.....treadmill still whirring beneath me.
10 seconds of rest caused an enormous amount of regret! Why did I stop?! I was nearly done! What if I had stayed on the treadmill? How would I have felt both physically and mentally? But my mind made the choice that I couldn't finish. I made the choice to give up.
I did get back on the treadmill after my 10 seconds of rest were over. I'm not sure if it was to prove to myself that I could indeed finish the exercise or whether it was Chad yelling at me to get back on the treadmill that made me do it. Nevertheless, I did finish but not with the feeling of satisfaction that could've been felt had I not given up on myself and the exercise.
Today I regret giving up on myself but it was a great lesson in choices and mental toughness. Regret is a valuable emotion! Regret signals to us that it's time to change our strategy! Do something different the next time. Make better choices. In other words, regret is a valuable part of healthy living. It's from regret that we can achieve some of our greatest ambitions!
So the next time I'm faced with a 10 second rest during a treadmill exercise OR the choice to remain on the treadmill for the entirety, I will choose to avoid regret and welcome the satisfaction that comes from a job well done.
Live boldly. Live now. Without fear or regret! :)
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