No Regrets...

4 Mar 2008 | public | email this page

So lately I have had a period of thinking through decisions that I have made in the past and how they affected others around me.  Could I have done things better - you bet. Would I change some things that I regret - yes yes yes.

When I have asked this question of some Christians that I know "If you could change anything in your past so far - what would it be?".  A popular answer has been "No I absolutely wouldnt change a thing - I have no regrets". This to me comes across as a really poor way of thinking.  It gives no room for human error and makes us out to be infallible.  Another common Christian misbelief.

So I was in Waterstones recently and found a little book that stood out to me called "the little book of regrets".  I have read through it and there is some great stuff in there.  There are a few arogant ones who say that to regret is to regress - but I still think that to regret is to say "I sin, and I make mistakes but if I take a moment to reflect on them then I can move on and do life a bit better next time". 

So that is my current thought ....what about you, any regrets?
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Submitted by brian on March 5, 2008 - 12:06pm.
I agree.  There are lots of things I would have done differently in my life with hindsight.  But making mistakes is human and the trick is the reflect on it and then learn from it.  And then once you've learned from it, it's important to move on and not dwell on it. 

I think that even though we all mess up regularly throughout life, God is still faithful and He's always leading us out of disappointment into something better.  I think that even if we mess up big time, that God can still pull out something special in our lives anyway.
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Submitted by caz on March 6, 2008 - 5:52pm.
Yes, I have regrets, of course. But I still wouldn't change the things that happened if I could.

That's not to say I'm infallible or that I now think the things I regret were ok. It's just that I learned a lot about myself, God, my friends through those things. In fact I learned some really important things that I can't imagine learning any other way than by making the mistakes I made. It has been incredidbly humbling, eye-opening and has brought me to where I am now.

I honestly believe that I wouldn't be the person I am today without those mistakes. And I believe that those I love wouldn't be the people they are without the mistakes they made, some of which they regret profoundly. And while I wouldn't wish pain and regret on any of them I am glad that they are who they are, because our relationships wouldn't be the same otherwise.

And God, in his awesome love, has helped me to deal with my mistakes so that they are not a burden, I don't burn with shame or remorse when I think of them. They have become one more way of understanding how great he is.
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Submitted by ulittlebeauty on March 7, 2008 - 9:36am.
Yes this is so true - Dont get me wrong guys I am not at all saying that it was about dwelling on it or that it was a case of changing anything - but a lot of people even refuse to admit to mistakes or past failures in an attempt to seem perfect, that is something that I was bothered by.
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Submitted by Amy on March 23, 2008 - 12:07pm.
Pain is the greatest catalyst for change. The pain of regret has been the making of the person that I am today, and continues to keep making me. The key to regret is using it in a positive manner to build on your life, rather than harnessing the negative power of regret and letting it destroy you by not letting you move beyond it.
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