“Who or what inspires you to be the best you can be?”
A few days before my grandmother died she said to me: “I regret nothing.“
The moment she closed her eyes my parents and I stood at her bed and I will always remember
these words. I believe that it has to be wonderful being able to say these three particular words at
least once in your life. But sometimes it seems rather difficult to keep sight of your dreams, nearly
impossible to make them come true eventually. So what is the key for a life without regret, for a
fulfilled life? The key some of us seek their whole lives for, yet will never find?
I spent a lot of time with my grandmother and through that I can say, that her life was not always
easy. Often she talked about her childhood in Elbing (Elbląg), in Poland. She had a beautiful life
back then. Having the possibility to be around her large family and spending a lot of free time with
many friends was a great gift. World War II finally struck Elbing (Elbląg). As an unfortunate
aftermath of the war she had to becom
e a refugee. She described tak
ng-lasting bad dream in Putlitz near to Berlin. Always doing the best she could and never resting
for a slight second, she started training in teaching children. She felt save for once in her life. My
grandmother truly loved her job. But the German Democratic Republic had such a strict political
orientation, especially for teachers and educators and no one had a slight chance of criticizing them
without consequences. Almost no one ever tried. Even though she knew of the danger she might be
exposed to she did something most of the others feared so much. She stated her own opinion to the
public, openly criticizing the political situation and educated children the way she thought was
better for the children, not certainly better for the GDR. Outcome of her actions was the persecution
by the police. A second time she had to flee, to run away, leaving back almost anything and anyone
she knew. Only because she didn´t want to detach herself from her true self. She herself was the
only one she never lost.
Such a woman said: “I regret nothing.”
She taught me that it is not important how good you are at sports, competitions or your work life. It
really does not matter if you are the strongest or most intelligent person you know.
To always do the best you can do, to keep your authenticity, to follow your own desires and to never
change yourself for someone else is important for your own satisfaction. That is what she and all
her very interesting stories taught me. I am truly blessed that I can call her my grandmother and my
role model, to remember her stories and the way she told me about them with her wet eyes lost in
memories. This woman encouraged me to be who I am.
Sometimes it was certainly difficult, because I always wanted and I still always want to please the
people around me: Family, friends or even strangers. Back then I could not forgive myself if I
disappoint just one of them. But later I matured and learned that I cannot please all people around
me, because I simply cannot meet with everyone´s approval. You cannot, you should not. And you
should not try to change yourself for someone, even though you admire or love that person. Losing
someone else is a minor problem compared to losing yourself and your own personality.
Winning means regretting nothing – and that is what inspires me to be the best I can be.