Regret. Merriam-Webster defines regret as "to feel sorry or sad for something you did or did not do".
Many people say they live their life with no regrets, but I tend to think that many people are fooling themselves. Everyone has to have at least one thing that they regret, even if they say they don't. I was one of those who claimed I had no regrets. But then my grandma's would-be 80th birthday rolled around. Without any other choice, I wrote her an open letter as a status on my Facebook.
Without getting into details, let me just restate that I believe everyone has at least one regret in their lives. Believing something someone said that affected how you viewed someone else. Not taking the time to do, or not do, something. Not "coming to your senses sooner" about something. Whatever the case may be, everyone has a regret. It's what you choose to do with it that makes the difference. You can bury it and forget about it, or use it. React to it. Choose to learn from it, and use the experience as a lesson. A hard lesson, perhaps. But feeling sorry for yourself because you messed up will certainly not change anything. It won't do any good either. Use the experience, use the lesson, to change your course, and avoid potential future situations which you would've otherwise continued down the same path.
This is a major duh moment. But too often people just feel sorry for themselves for the mistakes they've made and do nothing to change the way they react. And the world keeps turning, and nothing ever changes.
So as the saying goes, be the change you want to see. It sounds easy enough, yet many find it so hard to do. It takes integrity to pull it off. There's a reason and a purpose for everything. We can't see the big picture, only glimpses and corners. Frustrating? Most definitely. But we slowly get to see more of it as it comes into focus.
It's easy enough to say...why is it at times hard to do? I find myself a victim of this train of thought too. I know I want to do something, but the ghosts of those regrets come back with a vengeance. Say it to yourself. Be the change you want to see. If others can't or won't accept it, so be it.
