Dreamer38:

Regret is a Pothole

I always see things I regret about my past as potholes. You know, I'm driving along and everything is going smoothly, and then 'WHAM!', a regretful moment from my past catches me off-guard. Sometimes I see the bad memory coming and I manage to swerve and avoid it. Other times I seem to choose to hit it head on. Sure, the pothole does it's abrupt negative but brief jolt on your otherwise good drive. It's the unseen damage that still lingers.

When you hit a real pothole with your car, the jolt surprises you but soon it is gone and you shrug it off. It's the damage that you didn't notice immediately, the alignment that's now out or the broken tie-rod that gets you later. My point is, regret for past wrongdoings or negative situations can come up and make you feel bad for a lifetime. But if you avoid them in the first place, no harm done.

There can be an exception. Especially if you have created a situation that you either took a life or physically ruined someone's future (drunk driving or a stupid accident at work), then an apology and regret is probably warranted. But if you remember a time you pulled a fire alarm or made fun of someone publicly in school (teasing them), just recall the fact that throughout history, lots of people have done things like that. And so many of us carry our own guilt about things we did in our past, that the persons that we feel we wronged or whom have witnessed our worst moments, probably don't even remember half of it. They are too busy worrying about the same thing which blinds them from any possibility of even remembering what anyone else did in their presence.

Too many of us live our lives blinded by our own regret, we don't even realize that anyone else can make mistakes too. Don't amplify the bad parts of your life. It just leads to a negative lifestyle, or a damaged vehicle (your health). Unless the wrongdoing can still be fixed, learn from your past and put it behind you.