Happy Mother's Day to all Moms, expected Moms, Step-Moms, Foster-Moms, Adoptive-Moms, whatever title you hold while nurturing, inspiring and most importantly loving a child or children in your life.

Last year I suggested that you give yourself the gift of forgiveness for Mother's Day http://www.wincanada.org/blog/archives/happy-mothers-day/. This year I'm going one step further and suggesting the gift of letting go of all regrets.

We all have regrets, but Moms seem to have a deeper capacity to harbour those regrets, especially when it comes to decisions we make around our children's lives. The stay-at-home - working mother dilemma has been widely reported in the media for years and it seems there are good arguments for each decision camp, leading of course to regret for the road less travelled.

There are regrets for things we said in anger or exhaustion. There are regrets for the missed school concerts or hockey games. The list goes on and on.

We can spend a lot of time in life on the 'shoulda, coulda, woulda' scenarios and I expect some reflection on regrets in our lives have purpose; if we look back and think about what we could have done better, learn from our mistakes and vow not to make the same mistakes again.

You might consider the possibility that regrets were meant to be, that they actually happened for a reason, that life had something to teach you and the outcome may be better than you anticipated. Ask yourself "why it was meant to be." You might be surprised by the answer.

Don't beat yourself up over regrets, there simply is no such thing as life without them. Just don't let them burden you and get in the way of your happiness and future decisions. Every Mom I've ever known will admit to making mistakes and having regrets. As we mature we realize most of those mistakes didn't change the course of our children's lives dramatically.

As you look back on your journey as a Mom today let go of regrets. You did the best you were capable of at the time when life was throwing lots of things at you.

Give yourself the gift of letting go of all regrets. I guarantee you won't regret it.

Happy Mother's Day!