The other day I was listening to a podcast (I neglected to note which one) and one of the guests said something I’ve always believed but never had the guts to declare out loud. He said whenever he meets someone who insists they have no regrets, he assumes they’re either lying, or kidding themselves, or have led a very uninteresting, unexamined life.
Living as we do in the Land of Positivity, the correct answer to the question, “Do you have any regrets?” is supposed to be, “I don’t believe in regrets. Life is good. I’m blessed.” But why can’t life be good and also contain regrets? The guest on the podcast suggested regrets could be productive if they cause you to make changes in your current life.
When I was 19, I was fortunate to spend two months doing the shoestring tour around Europe. I traveled with two girls who were of the same mind, and that mind was often not in sync with mine. When we reached Germany, I said the thing I most wanted to see was the Neuschwanstein Castle. The girls, though, decided it was too out of the way and they were not interested. Rather than advocating for myself, I chose to not rock the boat. We did not visit the palace. I never forgave myself for that. A couple of years later, I bought a pen and ink drawing of the castle and hung it on my wall to remind me to never, ever miss out on something I longed for just to appease other people…
