Regrets

Regrets by xkcd nails it yet again.

regrets.png

I had a character say, “in my experience life is pretty short and people miss things, important, beautiful things, because they’re too scared to move forward”. That fear is what causes most of my regret. I do regret not having written more, earlier. I regret not having started to podcast my novel two years ago. I regret not having gone on to get my Master’s Degree as soon as I finished my Bachelor’s. All of those decisions were made out of some sort of fear.

There are a couple of things I can do with that regret. Looking back I can let it mire me down in self pity. I can wish and wish that I would have done something different. The problem is, all that wishing wastes time. Alternatively, I can take what I have done and celebrate that, enjoy that. By waiting, what I have is probably better. Taking the life path I have has lead to wonderful opportunities. Looking forward, when I have an opportunity I tend to be timid and often say that I don’t have the experience/talent/time to do something. Lately I’ve decided to go for it, to take that risk. I would rather try and regret the failure, but learn from it, then to not try and wished I had.

Now I’m not saying that you should make rash decisions. Those can cause regrets too and I have a few of those in my closet, as well. Think through things, but be willing to take some chances. That’s my take away from this.

What about you?

  • Kansas Bob

    I like this Scott:
    “I would rather try and regret the failure, but learn from it, then to not try and wished I had.”
    3.5 years ago I left my high dollar consulting job to join the pastoral stff of our church. Now that I have re-retired (as of this week) I am so glad that I did.
    I had a similar experience when I first retired (from AT&T) 10 years ago.. when you believe God is in it you just need to do it.

  • Scott

    Hey KB! Congrats on your re-retirement. More time for blogging. ;-)
    I left working in IT for working at a children’s home. It was a good year and I don’t regret having tried it. So I know exactly what you’re talking about.

  • Alex Fayle

    I’m here in Spain because I realized that I’d regret not living out my dreams. I still think back to many things that I wish I’d done and (being a writer) recreate the scenes with me doing the thing and seeing how my life would have been different.

  • http://www.teaandchat.com StephenK

    Couldn’t agree more. In the last couple of years I’ve made some tough decisions and taken chances. Sometimes it has been difficult but I’m glad that I took the chances and moved forward, rather than staying ‘safe’ but also staying still.

  • Scott

    Alex – Moving to Spain to follow your dreams is commendable. I know what you mean about creating sort of “what-ifs”. I think that can be beneficial (and fun).

    Stephen – Welcome to my little corner of the ‘net! Glad you found some value. I’ve subscribed to Tea and Chat and can’t wait to hear your interview w/ Chris.

  • http://sidfaiwu.com/blog sidfaiwu

    Regret is something I’m somewhat unfamiliar with. I’m very future-oriented. I’m much more interested in what can be instead of what could have been. Instead of thinking about how a problem could have been avoided, I try to find a way to fix the problem. Perhaps it’s my age. I’m not sure.

  • http://lornacr.blogspot.com lorna

    Never regret, just learn

  • Scott

    Perhaps you’re part Vulcan, Sid? ;-) Nah you’re just a pragmatist.
    Exactly Lorna, thanks!

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