There’s a line in an old Frank Sinatra song that says, “Regrets. I’ve had a few but then again too few to mention.” What about you? Do you have regrets? Are you doing anything with them, or are you simply regretting?
If you are only regretting – lost opportunities, lost … (fill in the blank) – then you are wasting your time. Regretting is only surplus baggage. Harsh? Possibly. But consider – if you aren’t or can’t or won’t do anything about the matter why are you holding onto it? And yes, everyone does this but it doesn’t make it effective and it certainly doesn’t make it logical.
With a regret, (IF) you have the option to ‘correct’ your oversight/misaction do you want to? You can’t go back to the moment of the missed opportunity or misspoke word/action. Thus, you have to be alert to the changes in people and situations since that time. If you choose to attempt to correct it then remember that the result may not be all that you wanted. It may not play out in reality according to the script in your head. You also have to be aware that the situation may not have been in your hands to correct at the time of the occurrence.
In those cases that you really don’t know what to do, you may not have an option except to accept what has happened then and now. If you can’t do anything then don’t force the issue thus creating a new one. Sometimes errors/mistakes/etc. are simply that and we have to live with the consequences and move on.
And moving on is the important point. Don’t hold onto regrets – let them be what they were and allow yourself to move beyond. There is sufficient life in today and multiple opportunities to rue what you said/did to compensate. Don’t let the baggage weigh you down. Allow your regrets to only impact on today’s possibilities, not yesterday. Learn from them but don’t hold onto them.
