PS you always post threads like this without confessing regrets yourself. c'mon, out with it.
I don't recall posting a thread like this, but the reason I ask is because I am wondering if some things are regrets or if in fact, they were meant to happen to serve a future purpose. I see now most of my second guessing was in fact things meant to happen to domino into who I am and what I have today in my life.
but sometimes in the moment, not the past, but in the moment, you consider a decision and feel a regret, because it's future meaning is not revealed yet.
so, 'things happen for a reason' turns a regret now into an understanding later and therefore, no regret to carry with. but until that time, you can't help but wonder.
If there is nothing you would do different then you have not learned from your mistakes. Yeah i get the whole it would change who I am crap but lets face it, you could always be better right? Bill Gates doesn't need regrets but the rest of us should learn from what we have done.
Drinking more milk when I was a child so I would be taller now. I was lactose intolerant but my parents never even bothered or cared enough to find out, they just assumed I didn't want to drink milk for whatever reason.
Wish I ate less fast food and worked out so my body could be perfect and toned to my best potential. I already pretty much underweight it's just that I don't have a six pack or as much muscle definition as I would like.
It does sound cliche, and is a load of shit. Tell that to someone who ends up in a wheelchair for the rest of their life, or ends up bankrupt and without a family. It's fine and well to say these kind of things if you have no major regrets, sure we all face things and get over them. But many people out there face shit that can't be so easily passed off as being 'best' for them.
It isn't up to you to judge someone's happiness based on their circumstances. And it wouldn't be my place to tell them one way or the other.
But we are never in a position to judge if we are in advance or retreat.
In your examples, it might have taken the loss of limbs to finally grasp the blessings they have.
The ability to walk does not make you happy. Nor does wealth.
Perhaps losing those things can be the "valley of darkness" that leads you to see true joy.
If there is nothing you would do different then you have not learned from your mistakes. Yeah i get the whole it would change who I am crap but lets face it, you could always be better right? Bill Gates doesn't need regrets but the rest of us should learn from what we have done.
I think "regret" is much different than "I would do it differently knowing what I know now."
I think "regret" is much different than "I would do it differently knowing what I know now."
I think you are right.
though you may have done it differently with what you know now, without that moment of 'regret', it wouldn't take to where you are now to know the difference.
I'm in a limbo between regret and understanding. it's one you choose I guess.
It isn't up to you to judge someone's happiness based on their circumstances. And it wouldn't be my place to tell them one way or the other.
But we are never in a position to judge if we are in advance or retreat.
In your examples, it might have taken the loss of limbs to finally grasp the blessings they have.
The ability to walk does not make you happy. Nor does wealth.
Perhaps losing those things can be the "valley of darkness" that leads you to see true joy.
Obviously this is easier said than done.
Again, this is coming from someone who perhaps has no major regrets. And again it's easy to say this cliche stuff when you're in that situation. I am sure this guy might have one major regret http://archive.seacoastonline.com/20...2joel_home.jpg for instance. For you to say 'he should make the most of it' 'realise the blessing of what he has left' etc is really is just a load of rubbish if you ask me. From my opinion from talking to people who've lost the use of their legs, etc (I used to work in the disability/medical industry) it's very very sad.
Many try to look on the bright side of things, some succeed, but generally as the years drag on and the reality sets in, desperation, frustration and often depression sink in and hit most pretty hard. Think about never going to a club again, never being able to just walk into a store and grab something, never being able to go paint balling on the weekend with your friends, never being able to hit on a girl you like because of your hangups, etc etc. It's not something that leads many people to see true joy, more often it leads them to see our unforgiving and hurtful life can be.
Seriously though, I know it sounds cliche but it's true. Every experience in life good or bad is invaluable so whatever choices you make, you are benefiting from them, even though it's easy to see after what you "should" or shouldn't have done to produce the outcome you thought would be the "best" for you.
Learn from your mistakes.... whats bad is actually good.... its all leading you somewhere.... etc... That is pure hippy bullshit. I used to believe that, then I realized it's just something sad people say to make themselves feel better about the future. Kind of like how poor people like to say money doesn't buy happiness.
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