Living With Regrets

"Regret doesn't teach us that we do wrong. It teaches us that we can do better"

I recently listened to a TED talk about regrets. I won't go into the details of the talk, but it got me thinking about my own.

And you can ask anyone - we all have them. The regrets of our choices, and how life didn't turn out the way we wanted. What we expected didn't happen. Our efforts proven fruitless - our hopes, killed.

And one could argue that we should live without regrets. That life is too short for them, and that we are all flawed. That they teach us what to avoid and to make better choices in the future.

And although there might be a lot of truth to that, I think it's important to acknowledge the fact that by denying to feel regret and all the pain that comes with it, we also rob ourselves parts of what it means to be alive.

Living without regrets, sadness and fear sounds like a breezy life. But where would we be without the downfalls, the mistakes and suffering?

I say that although it completely sucks, we need to learn how to live with our regrets and not to hate ourselves for making them. With the kind of life we live today, it's laughable to believe that we can cruise through life without misery.

What is reasonable, however, is to take the pain and utilize it. Because if happiness is what we seek, we need to know how it is to have none of it. Living with happiness requires you to know how to live with sadness (and vice versa)

The quote at the beginning of this text is important to acknowledge in your everyday life. Because deep down, we all know we are capable. Regrets is proof of that. Because we know that if we would have chosen differently, our current life would have been more enjoyable.

Don't let regret take control of your life. Being the devil's advocate here, I say that I have just as much realization left before I can stand securely in the face of regret.

Attempt is the first step. It's also something I won't regret.