Some of us have had good things happen to us this year; we have been able to go out more, spend time with our loved ones, get back to our hobbies, and learn new things. But for some, they may have lost so much- in life, work, and social capital. Many of us feel regret once in a while.
Regret is neither fundamentally good nor bad, but it is an emotion we are all familiar with, and we tend to regret the actions we failed to do, especially in our youth days(Past actions).
The pandemic has affected so many people's lives, and I am sure everyone agrees with this; during the lockdown, I usually sit by myself and feel sad, and it was mostly thinking of all the time I have lost.
I had made so many plans and resolutions at the beginning of 2020, but all of it was shattered due to the pandemic; I may have managed to achieve some goals I had set, but I still wish things would have gone as planned, maybe I could have complete all my goals.
Most days, I am okay, and I am not in deep thought regretting the past, but somedays I get into a deadly negative spiral that never let's go until it ruins my mood completely- "If it wasn't for the pandemic"- "It is the pandemic's fault"- "What would have happened if".
These thoughts go on and on in my mind like a never-ending spiral, making me feel so sad and bad about myself, but what can I do? You may be able to control what you do with your time, but you will never be able to control time itself.
Why do I feel upset about something that has passed?
Why does my heartache when I think about it?
Why is it so painful to move on?
The pandemic brought so many things, and it was out of control, and no one would have predicted it would stay this long.
Good things may have happened for some of us, maybe spending more time with our loved ones, but for others, who lost their jobs, life, income, and family, what do they have left but regret?
Time lost will never come back, so how long can I keep regretting the past, dealing with the trauma and memories of that horrible year that destroyed any sense of optimism.
Most of us regret missing out on something in our life, and it may have been a contract, a trip, a relationship, and so on.
How do I deal with regret?
Regret happens when we feel like we may have had something more positive if we didn't miss an opportunity or made a different decision at the moment in our lives.
We regret things we didn't do in the past(missed opportunities) or our decisions.
Like last year, what we didn't do will forever be in our hearts, and you will feel like you missed an opportunity and end up regretting it.
In a way, it is crucial you feel regret so we can process it; when you oppress your emotions, it may hurt you negatively, making you less productive.
The more you contemplate things you don't control, the harder it will be to forget and work through those painful emotions.
What makes regret terrible is when you don't use the lessons it shows us to benefit or improve your life/future, you may not be able to rewind time, going back to fix things is impossible, so beating yourself over it won't do you any good.
Instead of thinking about what would have happened if you did this or that, focus more on what you can do now; the present is all you have. Put more effort so the lost time won't count in the future.
"Your future you is looking at present you always remember that"
Let me ask you a question now; you can choose to answer it or not.
What is something that you still regret to this day, no matter how many years have passed? And have you gotten over it?
Put your replies in the comment box; I would appreciate it.
Thank you for coming; I will see you in the next one, Readers. Bye for now
Previous Article: https://read.cash/@Oikawa/we-are-strugglers-64cfae19
It is true what you say, it's okay to look back and contemplate on what we did wrong or whatever it is that we didn't do and use them to push ourselves and do better.
If there is one thing I have been regretting before, it was selling and using my Bitcoin to pay for my card bills between 2015-2017 lol! But I have gotten over that mistake and now moving forward.