To Have Regrets or Not to Have Regrets...

Well, I do not think it is fair to say that nobody has ever had regrets, yet some can learn from them, forget them, hold them close as reminders of what could have been else I suppose that theyy could be ever-present, yet some cast regrets away.

As Relia previously outlined,I presume that how you view regret and how previous experiences affect your life depends on your definition of the term.

Do I have regrets? Well, according to my definition (any questionable, dangerous, saddening, hurtful or negative experience), then I suppose that I do have a few regrets.


However , I do not let such experiences hold me down, as I learn from my errors and come to accept the decisions I make....as it is through making mistakes that we often learn the greatest lessons of our lives.

As many have said before me, you are taught the lesson in the classroom before receiving the test...whereas. in life, you are given the test before learning from such an experience.

Regrets may be most similar to worn out clothes, yet did you not once hold these items or experiennces close as a way of cherishing or rather learning from the past? As opposed to having or not having regrets in the prestn, we could say that we have all had "regrets" in some from or another before, yet we may or may not continue to have these things in the future. In saying this, I would like to add that the idea of regrets shifts and morphs with changes in context and the constant march of time.

Cheers (Ps, I apologize for any spelling errors as I did type this via the touchscreen on my cellular!)

For the most part "I regret nothing" is almost 100% accurate. I have only one regret and even that is small and fading. I'm glad I did not go down that way because I would not be here now. All these moments, all these decisions had lead to where I am. Me, a strong character, who has traveled the world, and is in the process of getting her stuff together so she can be married. Without my poor decision of half assing high school, I highly doubt I would be on this site. I certainly would not have been lucky to visit Peru or Cambodia. I am blessed that I do not have a huge debt either. Without the near death experiences, my weltanschauung would not be as it is now. Without moving to Indiana with someone who I thought I loved, my relationship with my fiance would not have happened.

I may have felt a small regret towards small decisions. Yet they are small stones at the bottom of the river. I choose to live my life without regrets. I often think about a certain decision before I take a certain course. Will this benefit me? Will a year from now I feel sh*t for my choice? I do not like having anything hanging on my consciousness. So for that reason, I make sure that the choice I am making is the right choice.

I would regret dieing without enough to regret.

Then I feel that is not having lived at all. Sure in a sense, if I was going to die today, I would be sad that I have not seen as much of the world as I have wished to, or developed my weltanschauung. I have not left my magnus opus behind yet either. Whether it sounds anti-dark or not, it is about acceptance to me. I cannot accomplish everything, I have so many hopes and so many desires, but I am happy with what I have accomplished and I always strive for more.

Proteus wrote: Well I know some people who have ended up with things and conditions in their life that they have a very difficult time handling, all because of a choice they made, and for them, at least in their eyes and experience, it doesn't seem so much a matter of "oh, well I made a mistake, and I guess next time I'll learn to do better. Okay, I'll let go of it". Even if they tried to let go of it, they have to live with the results for the rest of their lives, and having to have the object or condition of that result close to you every day as a tangible reminder of that choice can become a burden, and very difficult to just "put behind you", when its always there in the present anyway.

But then again, this is what I think about when I think about their situation. I'm not them, and I don't completely know the entire dynamic of dealing with something like that on that level. Maybe someone else here might? :dry:

I never said it would be easy. And I know exactly what you're talking about there and have had to go through the steps of learning to just let go. But I guess what I meant was everybody has something they "regret," and beating yourself up over it day in and day out helps no one. You can have a miserable life and pout about your past, or you can decide to change your attitude and make the best out of whatever situation you are in. Doesn't mean your life will become a Fairy Tale, but it could become more enjoyable...if you let it.

Oh and every choice, every change, is something you live with for the rest of your life. Sounds dramatic, but it's life.

For any negative consequences that resulted from my bad actions or choices...I only regret them if I didn't learn anything from them.

I am taking the liberty of amending my previous post.

"For any negative consequences that resulted from my bad actions or choices [that only affected ME]...I only regret them if I didn't learn anything from them."