We all keep hearing (or saying) how we regret our words, choices, decisions, behaviors of our past. Do we really regret? If yes, why do we regret?

It certainly cannot be a binary argument; wherein being defensive of ‘regretting-never’ and on the other extreme ‘regretting-ever’ carrying the past.

Given a past experience, it’s definitely our mere snapshot (psyche) at that point in time; we may have said certain things or made certain choices or have taken certain decisions or demonstrated certain behaviors. And at that point in time, our psyche would have been a function of our own interpretations, beliefs, judgements etc. to the situations we were in with external influences (if any).

So in reality, it’s our personality which created that personal reality and nothing else. Then the question of regret comes based on the outcomes or the repercussions those situations had on us or the environment & people around us that we tend to judge.

Some thoughts to ponder:

·        Irrespective of the outcomes, those experiences have some takeaways or what you call as ‘learnings’.

·        Once we introspect in understanding the crux of that experience and find the relevance, we accept it as a constructive feedback

·        On acceptance, our experiences get integrated into us. Once it becomes part of us, we let our intelligence handle it much better in our future and evolve

·        On denial, those experiences remain residual energy points separated from the ‘Self’. This results in conflicted psyche which not only creates dissonance but keeps re-generating the same experiences time & again

So in reality, we don’t regret the past but we regret our inaction in leaving it unhealed forever. Our introspection & continuous feedback to every situation or experience, is what results in our evolution. Let’s thank all our experiences in helping us acquire Tacit knowledge.

We all know ‘To err is human, To forgive is divine’ but ‘To keep erring the same is stupid’.

Let’s not regret, let’s evolve!!!

“Radical Forgiveness is much more than the mere letting go of the past. It is the key to creating the life that we want, and the world that we want. It is the key to our own happiness and the key to world peace. It is no longer an option. It is our destiny.”

– Colin Tipping

PS: Read (heard) it before? Knew it already? No worries. Let’s recall the proverb “There’s nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes)