I still wish you'd fought me ‘til your dying day
We are continually making decisions. At times economists assessing costs and benefits, at times frivolous romantics conveniently overlooking rationality. We decide to take actions; we decide to inhibit actions. Depending on the decision, fortunately or unfortunately, the case doesn't close once the decision is made. There is always an aftermath. It is in this aftermath that we reflect twice as much as our pre-decision meditation.
No matter how much we wish our decisions were good ones, right ones, we simply can't always come out ahead. We are illogical, we are naive, we are misinformed, we are human. We reflect upon our past decisions and experiences with the hopes of reliving the successes and avoiding the failures. We consider how we will improve. We choose to give it another "go." We ask for second chances. We are accompanied through our actions by a shadow of the past. But sometimes, that second chance doesn't exist. It is at these points that the black cloud of regret plagues our psyche.
Human regret is an essential component of our livelihood. It is the bridge between our ideal and real worlds.
As a creature of habit, it is rare that I find myself thinking, "I regret having ordered this," or "I regret having bought that." So give me a cookie because I maintain a low level of experienced regret in my day-to-day actions. And as students, it's only natural for us to delve into the regrets of having ill-prepared for an exam or procrastinated a paper. But in the grand scheme of our education or even our lives, these regrets are negligible. Yes, I just said it.
So what is this so-called "regret" that is the foundation of humanity? It is the reflective mirror that is inherent to the human species. It is the dam hindering the steady flow of our lives. Regret is the one who shuns you for not having made the effort, for not having spoken your mind, for not having thought ahead...for not having followed your passions. It is only regret because you were in the driver's seat and you allowed it to steal the wheel. It goes without saying that to avoid regret is easier said than done. Cognitive overload is no stranger to an average college student. We simply can't keep track of everything, let alone experience the oh-so-cliched dream of the common man -- living life to the fullest (I assume the term "fullest" implies some sort of avoidance of regret).
So regret is unavoidable and undesirable. Where does that leave us? Still in control, I would hope. If we expect that with every experience is an equal and opposite regret, then we can eliminate the time wasted regretting. We can choose to overlook our minor dissatisfaction and actively remember the good. The good that can so easily be strangled by regret.
Obviously I'm not saying that we should just ignore regret. I would argue that it has played a pivotal role in changing the course of my actions, expectations, and thoughts and arguably shaped me into a "better" person, whatever that constitutes. To put it lightly, let's just say I wasn't born knowing what to order at Magic Carpet. But at the same time, regret has a way of tainting our experiences so that we remember them worse than they actually were.
As put by the musical greats, "And when you regret, thousands are lost, maybe more. And the question remains, what is this for?" We inevitably think back on our recent and more distant past. But even while traveling back, we are moving forward. In the end, it is up to us whether our innate reflective mirror will accept or deflect.
No matter how much we wish our decisions were good ones, right ones, we simply can't always come out ahead. We are illogical, we are naive, we are misinformed, we are human. We reflect upon our past decisions and experiences with the hopes of reliving the successes and avoiding the failures. We consider how we will improve. We choose to give it another "go." We ask for second chances. We are accompanied through our actions by a shadow of the past. But sometimes, that second chance doesn't exist. It is at these points that the black cloud of regret plagues our psyche.
Human regret is an essential component of our livelihood. It is the bridge between our ideal and real worlds.
As a creature of habit, it is rare that I find myself thinking, "I regret having ordered this," or "I regret having bought that." So give me a cookie because I maintain a low level of experienced regret in my day-to-day actions. And as students, it's only natural for us to delve into the regrets of having ill-prepared for an exam or procrastinated a paper. But in the grand scheme of our education or even our lives, these regrets are negligible. Yes, I just said it.
So what is this so-called "regret" that is the foundation of humanity? It is the reflective mirror that is inherent to the human species. It is the dam hindering the steady flow of our lives. Regret is the one who shuns you for not having made the effort, for not having spoken your mind, for not having thought ahead...for not having followed your passions. It is only regret because you were in the driver's seat and you allowed it to steal the wheel. It goes without saying that to avoid regret is easier said than done. Cognitive overload is no stranger to an average college student. We simply can't keep track of everything, let alone experience the oh-so-cliched dream of the common man -- living life to the fullest (I assume the term "fullest" implies some sort of avoidance of regret).
So regret is unavoidable and undesirable. Where does that leave us? Still in control, I would hope. If we expect that with every experience is an equal and opposite regret, then we can eliminate the time wasted regretting. We can choose to overlook our minor dissatisfaction and actively remember the good. The good that can so easily be strangled by regret.
Obviously I'm not saying that we should just ignore regret. I would argue that it has played a pivotal role in changing the course of my actions, expectations, and thoughts and arguably shaped me into a "better" person, whatever that constitutes. To put it lightly, let's just say I wasn't born knowing what to order at Magic Carpet. But at the same time, regret has a way of tainting our experiences so that we remember them worse than they actually were.
As put by the musical greats, "And when you regret, thousands are lost, maybe more. And the question remains, what is this for?" We inevitably think back on our recent and more distant past. But even while traveling back, we are moving forward. In the end, it is up to us whether our innate reflective mirror will accept or deflect.
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