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Lessons of Regret
The Teachable Moments of Regrettable Actions
Imagine the present you telling the past you about all the things that could be done differently, the choices that could go right or left, this way or that, and the end results would change, making a happier, healthier you. Would you take the advice? Many of us would.
There are lots of pithy advice-givers out there telling us to live our lives without regret, but how? Some say to “live your truth.” Others encourage us to “mend our fences.” Those two pieces of advice can be at definite odds with one another. Do we forgive, or do we lay our emotions out on the table, knowing that if we do, forgiveness may be forever elusive?
Daniel H. Pink wrote a powerful book about how living a life with the philosophy of “no regrets” is not just silly, it might be keeping us from living our best lives.
Along the lines of Post Secret, Pink collected collected samples of regrets from over 16,000 people in 105 countries across the globe. The regrets, he argues, take the shape of four basic, or foundational, types. While Pink goes on to tell readers how they can help improve their lives with actions or reactions based on those regrets and steps they can take moving forward, (he’s got a formulaic three-step process and everything), I just wonder what we can learn from the regrets we’ve had, even if we do nothing…
