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Spiritual, Not Religious
Sacred Tools for Modern Times #2 — How to Free Yourself from Regret and Expectation
This series of stories explores all aspects of the spiritual journey. A journey that transcends rites, rituals, ceremonies, trinkets for sale, and all of the other elements of formal religious dogma.
Q. Lewis, I am tormented by regrets about the past, and expectations for the future. All I can think about is “I should have done this”, or “I should have done that”. Then I begin to worry, “what if I do this or that instead of this other thing? What will happen?” I know this pattern is dysfunctional and unhealthy both emotionally and spiritually. How can I overcome these thought patterns and learn to be in the moment?
A. There are ways to solve your dilemma. In order to be happy we need to transcend expectation and regret, guilt and shame, what might have been, or what we might have done differently, as we observe the past in hindsight.
With greater awareness, you will naturally apply newfound skills including mastery of what is commonly called in the human potential community “active seeing and listening.” You will understand how to experience a moment fully and without judgment. In this state of mind, you will restructure your way of being and how you respond to other people and events. You will finally “Be.” In this natural state, you will…
