Thoughtful Thursday // Greatest Accomplishment (so far)

"What do you consider the greatest accomplishment of your life?"

Maybe you're like me and you really haven't lived all that long. You might think you can't answer this question but just modify it to "so far" and tell us that!

I suppose how one chooses to answer this question depends on one's definition of accomplishment. See, I haven't done a whole lot that would look like accomplishment to the world. I haven't won awards or competitions. I didn't go to college and get a degree. I'm not even sure what I would define accomplishment as but I think I'd say that my greatest accomplishment so far is that I have no regrets in my life.

I'm not quite sure how that happened but as I mourned some friendships I realized that I had no regrets in the relationships. Sure, there were things I'd wanted to do with them that never happened, but I know that there will always be unfinished plans and goals. When I die, there will be things I didn't do. But when I look back on my life, I don't have regrets. And that is often how I decide what I will or will not do. I think to myself, "Do I think I will regret not doing this in the future?" If the answer is "yes", I do it, even if it's really, really hard. That's how I ended up participating in my high school graduation ceremony and going to California with my cousins. It's what made me go canvassing against a ballot proposal one year. (Okay, well that one had more to do with answering to God for my actions but still). Sometimes I decide I won't regret not doing something and then I don't do it.

There are lots of things that have happened in my life that make me sad, and in some cases I regret how things turned out, but it's not things that I did or didn't do. It's more like the results that I didn't have control over, if that makes sense.

I hope this doesn't sound arrogant. I know that I"m very young and there is a lot of life left to live (presumably). While I don't want to have any regrets at the end of my life, odds seem unlikely. There will probably be some things that I end up doing or not doing that I eventually regret. Who knows? Maybe it's something I don't regret now but will in the future! Wouldn't that be interesting?

Anyway, this got a little depressing and I'm sorry about that. I'd like to hear what your greatest accomplishment is and why! I'd also love to hear if you are living life regret-free too and how you've done that. Leave me a comment and we can chat!