I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I have no ragrets in my life. Nope, not even one letter.
Seriously, though, I've held the belief that one should live his or her life without regrets since my young teen years. I didn't really analyze it, however, until I was recently questioned about it. As the introspective, question-loving human I am, I've put several miles of mental legwork into answering this. Here are the three reasons I've come up with.
1. One should always mean what she says or does
I'm a firm believer in thinking before acting. I'm not a very impulsive person. Action plans are my favorite plans. Since life is a constantly-changing entity, I like to know my daily part in the chaos. This means that when I do something or say something, 95 percent of the time, it's deliberate and thought-out (regarding the other 5 percent, I've tripped).
This doesn't mean that I'm not willing to admit failure or fault (or say, "Ope, sorry!"), it just means that I was incorrect. I'm not perfect and neither are all my actions (remember, I trip a lot). However, it does mean that my apology is as sincere and intentional as my actions were.
2. One is not always in control of her life
When I was in middle school, my mom and I had to fly to Florida for a family funeral. We were waiting in a Chicago airport for information because our connecting flight had some technical issues. I was worried that we weren't going to make it to Florida on time, so I was pacing in front of my mom while we waited in line.
She was very calm, even though we had been waiting for about 30 minutes, so I stopped at one point and asked, "Why aren't you freaking out?"
She replied, "Sweetie, I learned a long time ago that there are some things in life that I can't change. They're out of my control. I can change things that I'm in control of, yeah, but things like flight plans aren't my department. All you can do is be patient."
Whether I like it or not, things are occasionally out of my control. As they say, life sometimes happens. I have friends, family, co-workers, peers, fellow college students, professors, bosses, roommates, and any number of strangers passing through my life constantly, and they each have the potential to change it in any number of .
Do I wish sometimes that things could be different? Of course. However, I learned in that airport (thanks, mom) that it's silly to stress about something that I can't change. I can't and won't regret something that wasn't and isn't under my control in the first place.
3. One is who she is now because of what has happened in her life
I'll be the first to admit that I'm not perfect. I have an awful sleep schedule, I'm not the most patient person in the world, I get very emotional if I don't eat on a consistent basis, and sometimes, I have a problem with volume control.
I'm sort of like a toddler who's old enough to buy alcohol.
However, I also have an infectious smile, I'm a good listener and an even better friend, I have passion for literature, traveling, and baby sloths, and most of my lack of volume control has to do with me telling jokes and laughing hysterically about them.
I'm a pretty great human, all in all. Sure, I have flaws, but I'm a work in progress, and I don't have to be perfect to be myself. I don't regret what has happened in my life because it's made me the unique, amazing person I am today.
