Stop Regretting Your Past

Stress Management

Regret is a universal feeling. Everyone has a bunch of regrets that they can't throw out of their mind. It's a feeling of shame, dissatisfaction, and distress in oneself. Examples are, the one they couldn't marry, the job that you ignored, the fight that you wish that you didn't want, the wrong school, the great investment that you didn't make, the money you didn't save, and many more. That's life. There will definitely be something that you wish you had done differently. Regrets can be small, medium, big, and very big and they can haunt you for years, decades, and even a lifetime.

But for some people, regret becomes overwhelming and pushes them into a spiral of I never seem to make the right decisions, I always choose the wrong thing, and so on. This can have a devastating effect on your current and future decisions as you will always be frightened to take any decision. This is called regret paralysis because you always mourn what you could have done better, should have done, and can't seem to make better decisions. But this is a dangerous way to lead your life always regretting the past and not looking ahead for better alternatives. When regret dominates your thoughts and emotions, it can be very destructive.

The Symptoms of Regret

Persons experiencing regret will exhibit the following behaviors,

Regret causes a lot of negative feelings like sadness, guilt, and remorse. This can drag the person down.

Regret leads to self-judgment and a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. This can be very damaging and counterproductive.

Finally, regret keeps you trapped in the past. This prevents you from enjoying the present and looking forward to the future.

To summarize, regret is a very heavy burden to carry around and interferes with your ability to live a happy and fulfilling life.

How to Reduce Regrets