The greatest portion of
peace of mind is doing nothing wrong.
Seneca
Every action you take produces an outcome. It may or may not be the outcome that you had hoped for, but in the end, it is not the outcome that truly matters. What matters is that you have done what you think is right to the best of your ability.
If you have done your best, there is no reason to second guess yourself or stress over something you should have done differently. Those thoughts are only for people who did not do their best and are filled with regret because they know that they had the chance to do better, but for whatever reason, they didn’t.
If you want to permanently remove regret from your life, simply do the best you can all the time. No matter what it is that you are doing, whether it is a project that you are working on, a conversation with a friend, or performing your role in your family, if you always do the best you can, you will have nothing to regret.
Another thing to keep in mind when it comes to doing your best is that your best will fluctuate. There will be days when the best you can do is far below your actual “best.” If you are sick, exhausted, or overwhelmed, and are functioning at a low level, your best will not be the same as it is on your best day.
Even though you are not at your peak performance level on those days, you can still do the best that you can do given the circumstances. Having down days is simply a part of being human. Even professional athletes do not perform at their peak every single day. Why would you expect to be able to do that?
You must be patient and forgiving with yourself. You will have days when the best you can do is to be silent and not snap at those around you. There will be days when you are just not functioning at a high level or just don’t feel like yourself. Do the best you can with what you have to work with each and every day. That is the most that anyone can expect from another human being.
If you have done your best and things did not turn out as you wanted, that doesn’t mean you have failed; it simply means that you produced a specific result or outcome. If you want a different result, go back and make the appropriate changes, and you will get a different result next time.
