Regret haunts many of us. It slips out of the back of your mind before you fall asleep at night. It reveals itself as your thoughts wander in the shower. It disguises itself in self pity as you drive in the car. Why is it that we hold onto our regrets, when there is no way to change the past? even when new and exciting event occur or people walk into your life– regret tends to linger. Regret is one of those feelings that can be your best friend or your worst enemy. You can keep the thoughts and feelings with you and dwell on them; or you can overcome them and use them to your benefit.
Most people tend to dwell on regret simply because it is the easier option. It takes strength and courage to say “I will stop living with regret because it has helped me became who I am.” This is the harder decision because the fact that you did something that you now wish you hadn’t, you let someone go whom you want back, or you passed up an opportunity for the wrong reason is unchangeable.
Regret should be thought of as a positive experience because if you wish you did something differently, then it means you learned from it. Regret will occur your entire lifetime and if you hold onto every little wrong decision then there will be no room for growth. Learning to let go of regret and the past is a part of being able to live a happy life.
“…Regret is an appalling waste of energy. You can’t build on it; it’s only for wallowing in.” -Katherine Mansfield
Exactly right Kelsey. Regret today hopefully equals wiser tomorrow.
Loved this article! It is something i had to learn after regretting many things in my past and holding onto them i finally figured this out!
Inspirational well said
Thank you grandpa!