The Pain Of Regret

It's day 224 of documenting 2025.

The pain of regret.

A common term and opposite to the pain of discipline.

Sometimes, we need to feel the pain of regret to fuel our desire to overcome it with the resolve to do better.

Just wanted to start on that note.

Something happened yesterday that made me feel regret.

I wasted time and felt guilty afterwards.

But I didn't dwell on that.

I returned and resolved to do better.

Now you know why I started with that 😌 

Today is going great....it's sunny and bright at least.

Something to be grateful for.

I got some news about the admission update of my school.

Turns out, admission is going to be processed by the end of the month.

Anticipation!

I'm just living out the days....and working on myself.

Focus, discipline, emotional mastery...and all that root work.

I call it root work because nobody sees what's going on, but it will surely reflect later on...when the hard times come.

Well, that's all about my life updates.

Let's move to our usual highlights and a poem that I'll share from the new poetry collection, Lanterns For The Lost.

Shall we? 🙂

365 Days With Self-discipline 

📌 On Juggling Five Balls

"Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. 

And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. 

The other four balls… are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered."

Quote by James Patterson

Self-discipline and your long-term goals are important, but throughout all of my books, I periodically emphasize that life isn’t only about accomplishment.

In fact, your well-being, living with integrity, and the relationships you have with your friends and family matter more than everything else.

What’s the point of self-improvement if you can’t share your successes and failures with others? Is being super-rich worth it if you’ve developed a reputation of a crook? Does it make sense to lose your health just to get a promotion at work?

When balancing between different aspects of your life, always prioritize the glass balls over the rubber one. 

You can always accomplish your goals later, but you can’t always restore relationship with your family, revive your friendships, recover your health, or regain trust.

Spend five minutes today thinking whether you’re careful enough when handling the glass balls in your life. 

How often do you ignore your health or family to focus on work? How can you work on your goals in a more sustainable way that would reduce the risk of losing your health, integrity, or relationships?

PS. I shared the whole note.

My take on this: focus on what's there instead of what's missing.

You don't have a job?

Well, some people out there are fighting for their lives on a sickbed.

You're not famous?

Well, some people are alone in the world....no family, no friends.

Always be grateful.

Moving on...

Another poem from the soul-speak collection.

The Machinery

We are stitched of strange matter

flesh like borrowed fabric,

bones like scaffolding under a dying sun,

breath that tastes like borrowed air

on a loop that never ends.

We are not this body,

this sweating, aching, bleeding shell.

We are not this spirit

this gust of wind that enters and exits

with the rhythm of a world

that never learned to stay still.

We are mind.

Not the monkey-mind that flails and fears,

but the core; the silent witness.

And still we enslave it.

To dopamine hits.

To timelines.

To cravings for applause.

Throw away your distractions.

Strip the noise from your bones.

Imagine this is your final breath

what would you dare to think?

Not as a coward,

but as someone who remembers

what they really are.

Something to think about

What distractions do I keep choosing, and what would my life feel like without them?

Everything we do, whether good or bad...starts in the mind.

Even when it feels impulsive or "I didn't know how it happened."

To read more soul-speak poems like this, get the full collection, Lanterns For The Lost.

I just love learning how the mind works...and why we do certain things.

I use myself as a test subject all the time, examining the actions I take and why I do them.

It's fascinating 😄

It's no coincidence that I'll be studying Psychology.

Anyways, that's all for today's post.

Thanks for reading 🎀 

These days, I'm not pushing out the posts like I used to (on Facebook). So, if you came here and read this post till the end, just know that I'm grateful 🥲 

One more thing....

Another poem I want to share.

Discipline’s not a mountain tall,  

But tiny steps, each rise and fall.  

A promise kept, a moment’s grace,  

Building strength at your own pace.  

No perfect path, no final race,  

Just steady moves in time and space.  

With every choice, your spirit grows

In discipline, true freedom flows.

True freedom flows in discipline.

Remember that.

I'm Duon Ada.

I'm documenting 2025,

And I'll see you tomorrow.

Ciao 💕