Regret

The source of our regret is not failed outcomes, it’s false identification. We look at outcomes and incorrectly interpret them as a reflection of self, and declare that “we failed” rather than seeing the intended outcome as just not yet achieved. When we fail to achieve our outcome, we often create an oppositional relationship with one or more entities, people, God, life, the world. This relationship exists only in our heads.

What determines the character of your actions is the focus of your attention. Your attention determines your reality. Your actions will always be in coherence with your reality, which is your attention. If your attention is on cheating, then everything and everyone is a cheat. When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

“Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves – regret for the past and fear of the future.” Fulton Oursler

“Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.” Sydney Smith (English Clergyman, Essayist and Wit, 1771-1845)

“Forget regret, or life is yours to miss.” Jonathan Larson