Have I Wasted My Life?
Maybe the years have gone by without you noticing. Work obligations, daily routine or a large number of worries have kept you from reflecting on how you are and what you are doing. But maybe, on any given day, tired of living in this kind of automatism, you start to ask yourself: “Did I get everything I wanted or did I waste my life”? “Am I where I want to be?”
If you’ve found yourself asking these questions or are at this point in your life right now, don’t worry. It’s more normal than you think. Almost all of us, at some point in our lives, experience this kind of worry.
At first, questioning yourself can seem daunting because we don’t know how far to go. However, this can also be the time to assume an inner state of positive introspection that leads to personal enrichment.
Therefore, from this period of crisis, a new impulse can emerge capable of redirecting your life to a more positive and conscious state.
The big question: have I wasted my life?
When a person asks this question, the sensation he may experience is often described as a kind of abyss opening up inside him.
In fact, it’s not uncommon for this to lead you to look back at your life and look back, balancing your achievements against negative events or failures.
This reflection can lead to many feelings that want to leave. Maybe because they’ve been sleeping for some time or even repressed. The important thing is to identify them, reflect on their origin and express them.
Somehow this will give you clues as to how you are doing and help release the charges that keep you from continuing.
As we can see, asking this question will entail an extensive mental and emotional journey through each of the areas that are important in our lives, analyzing them one after the other. Among these important areas are:
The work
“I like my job”? “What perspectives does it offer me”? “I will stay here forever”? “Did I lose my life on it?”
These are questions that don’t have an easy answer. Working is essential for living and, therefore, it is a reality that cannot be escaped. So even if you can’t control every circumstance at work, the attitude with which you face it depends on each person.
Many psychologists advise that happiness should not depend on a job. It might be a good idea to opt for a job that is lighter emotionally if the person is feeling unwell or uncomfortable. This could have negative consequences.
It’s important to be aware that you don’t have to force anyone to ‘be where they don’t want to be’. For this reason, we can all rethink our work situation and look for new opportunities if we deem it necessary.
When the work carried out brings more disappointments than satisfactions, perhaps it is time to look for new possibilities for advancement and, thus, avoid a stagnation in the malaise. However, it is true that there are times when this is not possible.
Life is made up of moments and, therefore, one way to enjoy it is to learn to make the most of the moments that make it up. So, if you can’t always be at home because of your work, you can choose to make the moments you spend at home unforgettable.
The family
“I wasted my family life”? This may be another of the big questions running through our minds. The upside of dealing with this is that by rethinking the question, we might get a different answer.
In other words, by transforming this question into an affirmation devoid of negative emotionality, which drives us to action, we will be able to acquire a more promising vision of family life that we have had so far. “Maybe I wasted my family life. So, the time has come to do something to stop it being like that”.
In most cases, we don’t choose our family. Despite this, it is emotionally beneficial to feel gratitude for the family we have, even for the simple fact of having them. As we know, not everyone is that lucky.
The past, if anyone wants to see it that way, might just be a daydream in memory. As he is nothing more than that, it shouldn’t stop him from acting in the present moment and regaining ties with his family.
So if we need to forgive, we are allowed to do so, and if we need to be forgiven, we have the right to ask for forgiveness.
In short, it might be good to think that the family represents our roots, our origin; that group of people with whom we have a lot in common. In this way, it is very likely that we feel the desire not to neglect it.
Have I wasted my life? The importance of having children or not
There are people who do not care whether they have children or not because they have other priorities. However, for others, this seems to be almost a transcendental mission in life.
In any case, it is advisable to reflect calmly and taking a certain distance from what happens to us. Clear thinking often leads to successful action.
In case there is a great concern about the education the children are receiving or about their future, the question is: is there something that compels us to maintain this constant state of concern?
There is the possibility of trying new strategies to alleviate this worry and channel things in another way.
Friends
Years pass and the most normal is that there are friends who are no longer part of our lives, while others can arrive. This often happens if you move to another city or country.
As a result, we may feel that we have fewer and fewer friends. When this happens, we usually choose one of two ways to go: we close and maintain the social circle we have, or we open up to new friendships, not forgetting old ones.
The choice of one path or another depends on each person.
achievements
The question that usually precedes the question of “I wasted my life” on many occasions is “What have I achieved in my life?” In order to assess the degree of satisfaction with life’s achievements, it is common to establish certain measurement criteria that arise from the comparison.
From this type of comparison, questions such as: “Did I get everything I wanted in life?”. Perhaps the most damaging aspect of this issue is the feeling that the goal of ultimate achievement has been achieved.
However, there is always time, so there are many possibilities to embark on new successes.
It’s an opinion shared by many: it’s never too late to reinvent yourself and achieve what you want. This statement may not be entirely true. However, both the goals we can set and the achievements we can achieve will depend on us.
Have I wasted my life? You have to reinvent yourself to live better
What resources are available? What limitations are there in everyday life? These questions lead to knowledge of the factors that can prevent you from getting where you want, as well as awareness of the skills available to achieve these goals.
This knowledge is, in general, important to ‘loosen the ballast’, to escape from what keeps us from achieving our goals, from what makes it difficult for us to get closer. Thus, learning from those who have admirable qualities is a good alternative to support this process of knowledge and improvement.
Have I wasted my life?
Conclusion
The past years, whether many or few, are experiences and memories that accumulate and build our own tower of wisdom. That’s where you can find the right material to build a better version of yourself.
Whether we are assailed by the question of whether or not we have wasted the years of our lives, maybe, and just maybe, it all comes down to a matter of time. It is possible that by reviewing our goals and detecting what was left unfinished, we can get back on the path towards the goals we once set for ourselves.
Anything that reduces the value and quality of our days does not deserve our proximity. On the other hand, everything that adds may deserve our attention.
Therefore, we must act and continue learning, and in situations of deep questioning where our decisions come into play, you can choose to take three different attitudes:
- Make a decision.
- Not making a decision.
- Deciding not to decide, although this is also a decision. However, it is a mental trap.
Which of the three decisions is for the bravest and which is for the most cowardly? Only we can say. As the judo master Jigoro Kano said: “The important thing is not to be better than others, but to be better than yesterday”.
