Tuesday, April 15, 2008

regrets

There are a few things most people look back in life and wish they could have done differently - there are also those who can look back on their lives and say if they had to do it all over again, they wouldn't do anything differently. I am not one of those, I've got the share of regrets.

As an immature 21 year old, who refused to spend Christmas with an unwell grandpa, tops my list. The following summer I learnt it was Grandpa's last Christmas. Regret taught me quite a bit on a single day. It did enhance value & importance towards people who matter. It helps mature, be stronger - yet remain humble and softer in this short visit called life.

The more I think about it, the more I realize regret is perhaps a forgetful, subtle yet powerful emotion. People hardly share regrets with similar intensity as love, hate, anger or frustration. That said - regret is instructive for you to a point. After that, it becomes self-punishment. What's done is done, and there's no escaping that fact, have got to move with the experience, which leads me to believe, regret is remorseful, yet possibly a melancholic success.

11 comments:

AM said...

When people say they wouldn't have done it any differently, I think most mean it as a general statement i.e. they would follow the same broad lines which led them to what they are again and again.

However, there are small incidents -which wouldn't have changed the path of your life- that you deep down regret ... small things which in a way or another, despite not affecting majorly your life, end up having a say in the person you become at one stage ... things like being ridiculously involved in your life to check on your grandpa during his quite long fight with illness despite him asking you about you and how you're doing almost everyday ... just because you were too immature and selfish to care and realize that life is too damn short ... which is why I cried when I read your post ... :(

So yeah, I guess there is a middle batch which does not regret the path their lives followed but do regret deeply emotional mistakes which are impossible to make up for ... mistakes which will hurt forever.

i*maginate said...

Interesting insight. My, you have a way with words! Reading your posts has the same effect on me as going to a party. lol!

Personally, if I had regrets, I'd be wasting even more time than I already am, generally speaking. And that, I regret. hehe!

I can already tell you in advance, I'm going to regret going to Abu Dhabi this weekend!

Jayne said...

I have a few regrets, mainly about something I've said, as opposed to something I've done. Sadly, once the words are out, there's no taking them back. It's all part of the learning curve in life Rosh. The majority of us do the best we can, with what we have, but sometimes we make mistakes which are difficult or impossible to correct. It's something we have to live with, but having said that, most of us accept the regrets as lessons in life. No one is perfect & there is no such thing as perfection :-)

awshubbar said...

I have many regrets in life...reading this post though, is something I don't regret!

rosh said...

Ahlan AM: thanks for your thoughts, sorry - didn't mean to upset anyone or cause grief :) Am glad you liked the post. I hear what you say, there are those mistakes, which can cause a life time of grief.

Grief itself is strange, you never know when it's gonna hit you.

Hey princesses: thanks for that, you made me smile :) Leish? the agony on AUH visit? I LOVE visiting AUH, it's so authentic UAE - reminds me of SHJ back in the days. There is something about AUH, that's quite distinctive. Hope you had a pleasant visit.

rosh said...

Allo Jayne, quite wise and true indeed. It's all got to do with the curve of growing up. The past is the past - try and make sure, we do not take the present for granted.

Hi Servidor - thanks for visiting, I shall stop over at your blog.

Hala Mr Sheikh: What regrets you have ya raayal? You quite young walla : )
Hope you are holding up the last semester - enjoy the ride, good luck with your tests. Success!

i*maginate said...

Well, I do love AD, but it is officially now becoming a lot like Dubai. Too fast-paced...

Unfortunately the guys here still look @ women as if they've never seen one before! As I reached my destination in AD, a guy in a Maserati was finishing his medwakh (nice excuse to keep the window down and have a peek) and expected me to pull up next to him.

Actually, I'm not complaining and it doesn't bother me in the grand scheme of things. I just find this whole 'chatting up on the street' way primitive - and a stark contrast with the other forms of progress the capital is currently witnessing. That's just one example...

All in all I do like AD but there's not much to do here...I think it's great to be here as a married couple and would definitely consider settling down here if the opportunity arose.

BuJ said...

Rosh, very heartfelt post. I am glad you're back online.

I've learned that regret only serves to make us sad and depressed. The smart man is one who channels regret into experience. Experience leads to knowledge, and of course knowledge in the right hands is power.

BuJ said...

:-)

Al said...

Hey,

My first visit here, nice blog.

Perhaps, this may help:

"Whatever was going to hit you was never going to miss you, and whatever was going to miss you was never going to hit you"

Things are just meant to be.

take care

Anonymous said...

Time Machine! We need a TIME MACHINEEEE!!!!