In the last 48 hours the topic of regrets has come up in my life a couple of times. Once was on the 50 questions post I did, and two other times it has coincidentally come up in real-life conversations I've had. I feel strongly that regrets are pointless. What has happened has happened, and there is nothing to do about it other than learn from it and keep a similar occurrence from happening in the future.
People most often regret those events that cause them pain or embarrassment. It's easy to wish the pain away and to want to re-experience the moment in a more positive way, but this is a situation when "no pain, no gain" really applies. We don't grow from the easy life events. We grow when we hurt; we hurt when we grow.
By virtue of the fact that we are human, we more than likely have a skeleton or two in the closet, or moments we remember with anguish and try not to remember. I have many corners of my memory that are shady and cobwebby and which I try not to disturb. That gets me nowhere, though.
Have I made stupid decisions? Undoubtedly. Have I hurt others and then felt very badly about it and wanted to undo it? Of course. Each circumstance is a great opportunity for me to reflect upon and think about what I would do differently next time to prevent the same outcome. History does often repeat itself, but it doesn't have to. In instances that I might choose to regret, I instead look at it as gift to myself. A chance to grow and be the person I really want to be. Otherwise, I'll always just aspire to be that person and never really get there.
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