“I have no regrets.” It’s super easy to say this when you’re generally satisfied with where you are in life. It’s something I’ve said countless times.
It’s also a lie.
For example, I sort of wish I’d stuck with that English major even though it involved so. much. reading. And there was that one time I thought I could drink as much beer as my spouse (who is twice my size). That college crush I never owned up to, and that other relationship I let linger too long …
I could keep going, but it’s not important. Which is sort of the point.
If I truly attempted to live life without regrets, it’s very possible I wouldn’t have taken risks. Because regrets are really failures in retrospect. And for all the risks I’ve taken that didn’t work out so well, I’ve got an equally long list of them that did. The master’s program I decided to enroll in 7 years after undergrad. And that pub crawl in Dublin with one of my very best friends. That date I went on, one hot summer day 13 years ago, even though I knew nothing about wine tastings.
Sure, I have regrets. If given the opportunity to do some things over, would I? Maybe. Maybe not. Perhaps the point isn’t to live a life absent of regret, but to live life so big and full that we can’t help but stumble a little.
Join my email list and be the first to know about new books and get exclusive access to my monthly newsletter where I share an inside look into the writer's life.
Pingback: Encore Moments | Mary Chris Escobar