Three Simple Steps To Avoid Regret
Instructions for a Feeling Challenge
How to avoid regret?
Well, I’m glad you asked.
*
The first step
is to accept
that you did
the best you could
with what you had
at the time.
What you were told,
what you knew,
how you felt,
how your unique mind works:
at that moment,
it was all you had to go on
And you did with it what you could.
*
The second step
is to realise
that you never
could have done
anything else anyway.
Everything in your life
up to that moment –
everybody you met,
every place you went,
every experience you had –
led you to that point
and made you choose
what you chose.
So to have done
anything other
than what you did,
you would’ve had to have lived
a completely different life
to begin with.
*
The third step
is to acknowledge
all the good
in your life
right now.
Know that
it’s all a result
of everything that happened
in your past.
There are no
alternate realities
or parallel universes;
you have one timeline,
one path,
just one short life,
and the good things you have now
would not exist
without everything that came before.
About the Creator
Jenifer Nim
I’ve got a head full of stories and a hard drive full of photos; I thought it was time to start putting them somewhere.
I haven’t written anything for many, many years. Please be kind! 🙏
Keep reading
More stories from Jenifer Nim and writers in Poets and other communities.
The Lesions of Devotion
Every day I set myself down on the freshly cut lawn and strip myself bare. I take my guitar and finger the frets and pick at the strings, listening for dissonance. My life is dissonance. I twist the tuning pegs until each string sounds bright. Then I kneel, calves pointing behind me, kneecaps facing forward. All exposed to the breeze. I close my eyes and play the melody.
By Paul Stewart4 days ago in Fiction
Comments (11)
Congratulations! Lovely poem and exceedingly wise. Well done!
Amen to this. Such a beautiful rendering of thought. Congratulations on top Story! ❤️
Congrats on Top Story! I loved this so much. Its rhythm is perfect and works so well with the tone! Nice picture choice too :)
Congrats Top Story
Hi Jenifer I have as well. Finally, somewhere to share our musings. Thankyou for sharing T
Back to say congratulations on your Top Story! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
The line about realizing you “never could have done anything else anyway” hit me harder than I expected—it felt strangely comforting and unsettling at the same time. I spend way too many late nights replaying moments and convincing myself there was some cleaner, braver version of me that could’ve stepped in, but this reframes that whole loop as kind of… unfair to myself. By the time I reached the last step, I noticed my shoulders actually drop a bit. Do you find this way of thinking came from personal healing, or did it take a long time to believe it yourself?
“You have one timeline” is the crux. Regret serves no purpose, brill entry for the prompt!
Cool 😎 Congratulations On Your Top Story🎊
This is a really grounding perspective. It is so easy to beat yourself up with "what ifs," but that second step about how our whole lives lead us to a single choice is a great reality check. Congratulations on getting Top Story!
Recently, I've been regretting something I did. Your poem felt so good to read. It felt very reassuring. I loved it!