Someone close to me recently said, “I don’t know where my life has gone- now I am too old to do anything. Perhaps I should have paid less attention to small things.” Visiting Venice, another woman in her 80’s told me she wished she had done this and that and now it was too late. And I have met many other older people who have had regrets about their lives.

There has been a lot of things written about not sweating the small stuff, looking at the big picture, etc.  There is a story going around on the Internet about a professor who tells his students that the marbles in a jar represent big things in life and the sand he has just poured into it is the small stuff.  And he tells his students not to worry about the small stuff but to concentrate on the marbles.  And it is true- I realise.  Although I am not that old and still have energy to do things, I wish I had not got involved with small things when I was younger.  In between trying to save 20p, somewhere a bit of my life, which is priceless, has been lost.

So these days, I try to look at the big picture while the small stuff sorts itself out.  Look at the big picture, think about higher and noble goals and try to do big things.  It is hard to get out of the habit but once you do, it is magic!  Make your ‘Big Bucket list’ and start today!  When you are old, then you can say like Édith Piaf, 

“Non, je ne regrette rien”