I was reading a post “On Enhancing Your Social Skills”and the writer quoted his dad saying “My biggest regret in life is wasting so many years worrying about what other people think.” Then goes on to tell how he stepped out of his normal way of life for the day and greeted people, began conversations and left people with smiles. What an extraordinary day. Now why is this not the normal thing to do? Going back to the quote – “We worry about what other people think.”
A smart friend of mine told me once, when we were discussing the topic of what other people think, “I once worried about what you thought of me until I realized how little you are thinking about me.” That is true, we are usually so self centered that we don’t give a lot of thought into others, but for some reason we think we are the center of their thoughts. Kinda funny!
What would life be like if we stopped worrying abut what others thought and just did what was right. I think it would be sort of freeing – yet maybe a little scary. What choices would I make if I could make any choice? In reality I can make any choice but I put limitations on myself worrying about what others might think. This is kind of hard to admit, because I try to live a life of responsibility and self discipline – but I am influenced by what people might think. So without worrying about what others might think, what would my life be: I would take more chances. I would offer more help. I would talk to more stranger. I would make more eye contact. I would share more about God. I would stop playing it safe and take more risks. I would not have many regrets.
