"Live with no regrets" is a relatively common phrase that everyone has heard or repeated at one point in their lives. But what is it about regret that fills our hearts and our souls with fear? Are we really that afraid to make mistakes because we are afraid to live with some sort of regretful remorse of what we could have done differently? If you asked me, I would call BS on this entire manner of thinking.
I know you're thinking, "why would this girl want to live with regrets?" and it's not necessarily that that is what I want to do. By no means do I want to end my experience on this earth looking back at all the things that I could have done, but didn't. Instead, I look at it this way...
Having regrets means:
You made a mistake - but learned from it.
I'll say it once, and I'll say it again. The best way to learn is to make mistakes. We're young and haven't experienced half of the things we have yet to encounter and learn in life, but mistakes can be a great way to start. Looking back on a mistake you made in the past can trigger some anxious thoughts about regret, but in all honestly, turn this into a positive thing and know that you have given yourself the opportunity to become more educated and grow from it.
You tried.
There is nothing more important in life than simply just trying. If you never try, you truly will never know the things you are capable of or the lengths you could reach. You may have failed and you may have regretted putting time and effort into something that didn't last, or never worked, and that's 100% okay. You will fail and fail time again, but the only true failure and regret you could have would be to never actually try.
You went out of your comfort zone.
There is nothing scarier than doing things outside of our comfort zones. That's exactly what a comfort zone is for, keeping us away from the things that scare us, but that is no way to reach your true potential in life. Maybe you have a terrible phobia of speaking in class but you pushed yourself to answer the teacher's question. Perhaps you got the answer completely wrong and you are now feeling some sort of regret for ever trying in the first place, but don't. You took the chance, you challenged your comfort zone and that will go a much longer way than that tiny twinge of regret ever will.
You're living life.
Hey, I mean, it's what we're here to do right? You're living life and learning what you can as you go, sort of like a trial and error process that never really stops. If you're living life, you have nothing to apologize or regret, because you're doing what we are here to do and it's better than the person who is doing nothing at all.
All in all, regrets can seem like a daunting thought, especially when you feel as though you aren't living your life to the fullest, but I encourage you to take a step back and challenge these invasive thoughts. A regret will never hold you back as much as not going out, learning from your mistakes, or challenging yourself ever would. Embrace the regrets as just another piece of the puzzle that is you, and tackle this experience called life with open arms.
