Regret and What Could Have Been

This was prompted by a podcast question that I got asking about how to deal with regret over missed opportunities. Rarely do we have one perfect path in life and I don't think that I would be doing nearly as well as I am now if all of my intended paths "worked out".

[XpapricaX]

I left my high paying job only to get sick 2 months later because if leaving that job and 5 years later im recovered and the same people working at that job are making 3X the amount we were making. Yeah i have regrett .

[cindymakete]

"regrets of the past and anxiety of the future squeeze out the present " mhmm

[kp]

I agree with another commenter that while your example might give hope to some, for others it is petty stuff compared to heavy life regrets and consequences. Not getting the internship you wanted is more of a disappointment than a regret anyway, and you still got another internship. What about choices with life-altering consequences, for you and/or others? What about the time you can’t get back? What if your choice was clearly wrong? What do you actually do with the pain? I think there is much more to be addressed here.

[katrinat]

“Realize that that path wasn’t solid in the first place and rarely is there a perfect answer. It isn’t so hard to find people who didn’t do what their field or society prescribed for them as the appropriate path but they worked it out and they have a life that they would rather have compared to where they probably would have been if they made the ‘right choice’” I’ve rewatched this video many times. It’s helped me so much but that part especially.

[tessaking]

My parents enrolled me out of high school when I was 16 because my anxiety got out of control. I was supposed to do online schooling but I didn’t do the work. Then I was supposed to get my ged. But I didn’t study. I spent about 2 years of my life wasting my time when I could’ve been doing it. In the mean time I learned to control my anxiety and got better.

About the beginning of 2020 I finally figured out what I wanted to do in life and that’s to be a teacher I wanted to be a teacher my whole life but this time I knew it was my calling in life!

So in March 2020 i decided to go for my ged. I studied hard for it failed it. Went to try again but then the pandemic happens and lockdown started I was upset 😭 I didn’t know how long it’s was gonna last. So I looked up the age requirement to graduate and luckily it was 21. Fortunately I was 18 at the time. So I enrolled myself at a online high school and my graduation year is 2022. I’ll be 21years old.

I have been doing online school for almost a year now! I can’t wait till I graduate! I’m really excited!

There are times when I’m scared that I’m going to flunk again.

I have regrets about my past a lot. If I knew how to control my anxiety sooner or if it never happened at all. I wish that I did my school/study before I practically wasted my time sitting around. I could’ve graduated with my friends (I would’ve been class of 2020).

However I never thought about going to college once while I was in public school. When j dropped out and spent a lot of time with kids (my moms a in home preschool/daycare teacher). That’s when I decided to go to college and be a teacher just like my mom. In a way maybe it was meant to happen?

[Micahbry]

I needed this, I withdrawn from school for music due to managing my career in music, work, and a now pregnant wife. Thank you for helping me put things into perspective. peace and love

[sfrancis]

In your case, it worked out, and you can look back and say that you took the right decision. How does one look back at the age of 50, realize that you are as poor as you were in graduate school and that you are still where you were ten years ago, and get over that? I d really appreciate it if you did a video on that. My regret paralyzes me.

[RickMartinYouTube]

Most regrets I have are related to putting work ahead of developing friendships, relationships.

[joybrooks]

This was right on time...I was stressing over should of/ would of /could of...now I'm going to trying to keep my mind in the present. I have a feeling I'm going to look at this video a couple times before my mind actually changes over

[ralphylad]

Turned down a life changing job opportunity with salary to boot. At the time it made perfect sense until I really thought about what had been offered.

[calco]

I’ve been caught drink driving and I feel awful and so lost affecting my life massively I’m looking at a 12 month ban I regret that night so so much

[klanderkal]

Don't let regret pull you down? That's it..? I made the regret of retirement. I cannot move on, ... i made the worst regretful mistake ever. I miss my job, coworkers etc. I didn't have to retire. ! I have no joy in life anymore. This regret has caused anxiety, insomnia, and depression. This is a regret., i thought this video would help, but made me feel worse. Comparing your regret?, and now you're doing great, happy, wealthy, .... that's not a regret, you can't live with.!

[daimsaeed]

My past decade 15-25 which was supposed to be my formative one has only been of regret laziness and darkness due to my own choice

[Earthtime]

Yeah but there’s also the things that didn’t work out that genuinely ruined your life. My regrets are deep. I ruined my future.

[LauraScottBell]

Wow! This uploaded at the perfect time. Thank you for speaking about this! 👏👏👏👏

[LouFederer]

Great video, Robert! Like you, things in my path have kinked in various ways (some of my own meddling; others not), and like you again I am so very happy for the way things have turned out. I don’t believe in fate either, of course, but it does amaze me at how fortunate I have been to have been dealt the various good and bad cards over the years. I’m in the best mental and physical (and financial) shape I’ve ever been in, and that is almost in spite of taking some serious risks over the years. I don’t want to say with arrogance that all my risks paid off, because I couldn’t have known back then what the long term results of my decision-making would be. I couldn’t agree more with the message of this video, though. There really is zero space for regrets in life. All I know is that if you work hard and try your best, even if not all your endeavours come to fruition, you will get various opportunities, some or many of which will be cooler than those you had set your sights on in the very first instance.

[cameronsanchez]

But I regret something that was all my fault. It wasn't some kind of bad luck, it wasn't something that was anybody else's fault, it was my fault and I was the reason that I regret this. I'm only 18 but I regret something that people would probably hate me for had they found out. I feel like such a bad person.

[kayokk-]

Thanks 🙏🏼 for your words. Painful but we push forward. Focusing here. Amen

[hehasrisen]

Good stuff. Thanks for the encouragement

[Tearsofasilentheart]

I will try and focus on the now.
Thankyou.