Regrets
There is a question I sometimes ask myself.
If I had the chance through some weird miracle to relive my life, would I want to do it?
Others have asked me the same and I always have to ask them to clarify the conditions.
Would I just be going back in time to the Fifties and reliving my life with no memory of having lived it before? The answer to that one is a strong NO. While I had some great times and some great experiences, there are too many bad times that I honestly wouldn't want to go through again. And anyway what would be the point.
Suppose I were going back with the knowledge I now have? I think the answer to that would be a YES, as I could imagine it being great fun. Imagine a snotty ten year old doing elementary subjects with the knowledge of the future? And then there is the fact that I would know what the future holds in store and that alone would make me a multi-millionaire [buying shares in Microsoft before Bill Gates is even born? Heh!].
What I would really like to do though is to go back with the wisdom I have acquired through experience.
DEFINITELY!
I don't believe in regrets. My philosophy is that if I did something wrong in the past, I did it for a good reason at the time. It's too easy to look back with hindsight and regret something but that regret is purely down to the hindsight. However, if I were to grant myself the luxury of one regret, it would be that I failed to have confidence in myself until it was much too late. So reliving the past with that one factor sorted would have meant a completely different, and probably better life.
I was a shy nervous kid. I kept to the shadows and took any shit that was thrown at me. I was terrified of just about everything. Now the world holds few terrors and there is little that would scare the bejesus out of me, except maybe a signed Valentine's Card from our illustrious Minister for Health.
So if I could relive my life with the self-confidence I now have, I would certainly do it all over again.
If only I could……
You said
"However, if I were to grant myself the luxury of one regret, it would be that I failed to have confidence in myself until it was much too late."
I say
"However, if I were to grant myself the luxury of one regret, it would be that I failed to say fuck it at a tender age."
More or less the same thing! "Fuck it" and "Fuck off" would have been the cornerstones of my philosophy.
With "Fuck That," in a close third place.
I agree with every word in the article and so far in the comments. My life would undoubtedly be different than now, not that I regret anything I did good or bad too much, life is too short but it would have been good to realize I had the gift of the gab when I was much younger and the confidence to have utilized it.
I have had a damned good life on the whole. I know though that it might have been a little better in places if I had had the strengths I have since discovered. However I am not complaining and am very happy where I am now. As you say – life is too short for regrets and je ne regrette rien.
Life is a fantastic journey. If we knew the details along the way, there would be no point in living. Yes, I would have avoided some serious mistakes, but at least I learned important lessons to make life better. Sorry, have to go now to pick Spring blossoms. No time to try again.
One point to ponder for those who want to relive their lives – just remember the years of tedious school homework!
" If I had my life to live over, I'd live over a bar"
I did that anyway. Or do you mean go into law? 😉
Imagine going back in time and knowing what you know now. You would have to keep very quiet about it or they'd have you sectioned.
Heh! True.
"But Sir, there is no need for you to teach us arithmetic because we will all have computers and telephones we slip in our pockets, and we needn't learn stuff off by heart because there will be a thing called the Interweb where we can find any fact we want"
Padded cell time, all right……