Living Life with Regrets

I have regrets in my life.

I feel like I'm being rebellious by saying that. People say ALL THE TIME that they have no regrets.
"I live my life with no regrets."
"I don't regret anything I've ever done."
"No regrets--everything happens for a reason."
These are actual quotes I found from my facebook friends in about 10 minutes.

I beg to differ with that point of view. If you dug deep, I bet you would find a few things you regret. I certainly regret some things you have done. Something good doesn't always come from something bad.

I think you mean that you are choosing to look at the positive side of everything that has happened in your life. That is different from living with no regrets. Here's what I mean...

Regrets
I regret many things in my life. So many things I wish I hadn't done, or wish I had done. Some are silly.

This is my corner of the bedroom I shared with Heather and Liz in college. I really regret being so messy. I'm sure there were times that my roommates hated my mess. I got used to seeing clutter everywhere, and now it is so easy to overlook it in the home I share with my husband. I'm sure he wishes I had been neater early on so that he doesn't constantly have to pick up after me. My room was never allowed to look like this growing up. I regret that this ever became okay.

Other things are more serious. I dated a guy throughout a lot of college, and I regret staying with him for so long. Just being honest. With previous relationships, it has become so easy to say "I wouldn't be the person I am today without that relationship." But seriously, I would probably be a lot more confident and a lot less suspicious of people had I ended it sooner.

I regret ways I've talked to my parents. No good came from that. I just regret it.

While I'm at it, I don't think regret is just limited to myself. There are some things I wish other people hadn't done. You may say you don't regret anything in your life, but have you considered that your actions may have hurt other people? Still don't regret it?

Positive Thinking
This follows regret and should be the predominate way you live your life. If you live too long in regret, you will regret it. (ha...see what I did there.) When people say they don't regret anything, I truly hope they mean they are choosing to think positively about things that have happened. This is great. Good can come from bad, but not always. Although I regret that boy, I did learn a lot about how to act in relationships. I changed a lot of bad tendencies I saw in myself, and I IMMENSELY appreciate Chris. My regret about how I've talked to my parents has encouraged me not to speak like that again. Future good.

I've been learning to see bad things that have happened as learning opportunities. It doesn't mean that I don't regret them. If I never regretted anything, how many times would I continue to repeat the same mistakes? And it really scares me if you don't regret anything. Will you continue doing the same things over and over? But I won't let the guilt from regret consume me. I'm changing future behavior and picking out the positive from past situations.


This is really just a long blog about a huge pet peeve of mine. If you really have no regrets in your life, then expect me to stay away from you. I'm not hanging around people who don't acknowledge their mistakes. That makes you foolish and dangerous.