Regrets…. I’ve had a few…. sang by Sinatra all those years ago. There are times when we get an opportunity for a ‘do- over” in our lives, and there are times where it was just a missed opportunity. We can all recall at least once in our lives when we had one of these incidents. How you made those decisions, or why you have certain regrets, is what makes you…. you!
What was the opportunity? Who was there? What did it involve? I bet you have an almost instant recall of one event in your life. When these events happen, they could have been something minor with no lifelong consequences. Other incidents could have had life-altering implications. I have a firm belief that throughout our lives, we have challenges and opportunities to have one door close and yet other doors open. Which to pick so that we have no regrets? Some people play the “what if” game. What if I had married that other girl or guy? What if we had stayed in our hometown and not moved away? What if I had taken that promotion that required us to move our family to a strange, new city?
As we were growing up, we all heard the story of the lady or the tiger behind two doors. The king was looking for a suitable mate for the princess. He had one final test for each possible mate. He would take the young man to a room with two doors, and let them know his daughter was behind one, but behind the other was a ferocious man-eating tiger! Many young men wanted to marry the young princess, but none of them had the courage to open one of the doors out of fear of the tiger. They failed to win her hand. But one day a young man showed up, and when he was tested, he did not hesitate and strode with purpose toward one door. He opened it, and there was the princess. You see, it wasn’t about which door, as both led to the princess. There was no tiger. It was about the courage to open a door.
Do-over opportunities come every day, but most of these are simple, non-threating issues like you ordered the wrong thing off the menu at the restaurant, so next time you’ll order something different. Longer term is you leased a car for three years but discovered you don’t like it. It’s okay, you get a do-over in three years.
The thing with regrets and do-overs is that it gives us experiences that hone our judgment for future decisions. We say to ourselves “I’ll do better next time”.
With your financial plan or your choice of Medical plans, we are fortunate that we can have do-overs every year with no regrets. The Medicare Annual Election Period is happening October 15th through December 7th, and we all have the opportunity to choose a different medical plan for next year.
Ensure you have no regrets this year and get some professional assistance with that choice! Need help? Call us!