I just finished reading a book by Diane Johnson - I love her books because she creates such a detailed picture of her characters and their day-to-day lives, it's easy to tune out the rest of your goings-on and just enjoy.
A sentence in the book, L'Affaire, caught my attention. It's actually a thought from one of her characters, who has just royally fucked up by trying to do good, and also slept with a married man:
"Yet there was nothing to regret - and no regrets was a rule for living if there ever was one."
Do you agree? Why or why not?
I don't dwell on regrets, but I realized in college that my biggest ones were chances and risks I hadn't taken, adventures I hadn't attempted. Somewhere, I saw a quote: "Do one thing every day that scares you."
Sounds like good advice to me.
16 comments:
that's my favorite LOLcat of all time!
I don't agree with that statement.
I believe that we should have some regrets over some of the things that we have done in our lives.
I do know that I have some regrets over some of my certifiably jerky behavior in the years gone by. While the end result of that jerky behavior is me writing this comment, the way I got be writing this comment was one of the biggest regrets that I've ever experienced, and in fact has made me basically skip the acknowledgemet of 2006 beyond saying I turned 39 and celebrated my 17th wedding annuversary.
Regrets helps keep us grounded.
Chica, don't encourage me. If I did one thing a day that scared me, I'd be divorced and behind bars! lol
Seriously, I live with few regrets. I tend to live a little.
I have regrets, a great many. I think it's important to be able to look back and say "Hey I fucked up, I got that wrong." That's the way you grow as a person, learn from your mistakes etc.
Every day scares me, whether I do bad or good things. In fact I'd like to got through one day without scaring myself!
I do have some regrets, but have learned not to dwell on them. A couple of things that resulted from risk taking that just didn't pay off as I had hoped. :)
Believe me, in light of this post, you must see DEFENDING YOUR LIFE with Meryl Streep and Albert Brooks. (It is the only good movie Albert Brooks ever made.) We just happened to watch this with my son and his kids this weekend and it is still one of the best movies ever made and certainly supports your theory of risk taking. I'm going to try to do something scary everyday.
Unless of course if all regrets do not equate equally.
K: I know! Me too.
G: Now you pique my curiosity. 2006 sucked for me in a major year, so I just try not to think about it.
Ily: LOL! And good for you.
Joey: That's a good point. I'd probably like to go get through a day without scaring myself, too ;)
Lynn: That's a good point about not dwelling on them...I used to do it a lot, but now, not so much.
GA: I will check it out!
Anil: Good point.
Hmmmmmmmmm...if you ask politely behind the scenes, I might just tell you the reason as to how I wound up in the land of Blogs, chat rooms and Facebook.
I regret not being the Queen and absolute monarch of my own island nation.
I would have to say the person who does not regret their mistakes is unlikely to learn from them and enter into downward spirals that lead to disaster.
Which, of course, is different from living fearlessly....which CAN be a good thing when combined with good sense, but again is disastrous for people who lack good sense.
How is that for playing both sides?
Great pic, by the way
FB: Seriously!
Darth: Good points. And I love that pic, too :)
I have no regrets especially when I am overseas I will just buy stuff that I like as I never know when I'll visit that country again ;)
Also, what I've done before (bad or wild or sleazy), I've never regretted coz at least I've tried ;D
Regrets ?? Many..do I dwell on them ?
Kind of late for that.
I like your Sentiments Kitty..works for me. :)
S: Interesting! I've done that, too. Agree with the second thought, too. :)
GT: Amen, sister!
Regrets, I´ve had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did, what I had to do
And saw it through with out exemption
I planned each chartered course
Each careful step along the highway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way
There were times, I´m sure you knew
When there was fuck fuck fuck-all else to do
But through it all, when there was doubt
I shot it up or kicked it out
I faced the wall and the world
And did it my way
--Sid Vicious
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