lI think I might just naturally be an argumentative person. What other reason could I have for just disliking that phrase? In fact, I love the song "Damn Regret" by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. So maybe it's just that. I like to argue.
But I honestly think we misunderstand what it means to live life with no regrets. I mean really? Regret nothing? At all? Then how do I learn my lesson? Do I not regret skipping my Politics class so often that I made a whopping 53 on the final? Hell yeah I regret that shit. I was wrong and I fucked something up. Don't get me wrong, I don't dwell on it, and I was incredibly lucky that most of the class failed the shit out of that final as well. The professor curved our grades so I passed the class with a B. That's good, but I could've done better. I expect more than that from myself.
So why should we live life with no regrets? We can't learn from our mistakes if we don't ever feel bad for them.
I think it's better if we don't take it literally. Instead of literally not regretting a single bad thing we've ever done in our lives, we should probably just not dwell on it so much that we obsess over it. Or better yet, be careful not to do things that you KNOW you will regret. Example, you may not regret going to a party and drinking with your friends, but you will regret robbing a bank and shooting the security guard. (provided you aren't a sociopath, but then you don't really care about the subject of guilt or regret anyway do you? Clearly this entry isn't for you.)
I understand that dwelling on negative things is bad for you. One day you fail a Politics final, the next day you're convinced you're an idiot and wondering why you exist at all. (that statement was only a tiiiiiiiny bit in jest. I do jump to extremes like that. -sadface-) I just think that expecting yourself to never ever regret anything you've ever done is a bad idea. I regret tons of things that I'm too lazy to list, but the big ole pile of regret that I have helps me to not make stupid ass decisions in the future. The next time someone starts declaring themselves to be my bff on Facebook even though we've NEVER hung out, I'm deleting the shit out of that motherfucker. The next time I think skipping a class that I very well may fail (-cough- Politics -cough cough-) so that I can hang out with someone I'm sorta kinda but not really in a relationship with I'm going to call at least three people to remind me of why I was an idiot last time.
I'm just saying, instead of saying "Live life with no regrets" you should either say "Learn from your mistakes so you don't look like a dumbass again." Or you should say "See that right there? That's a mistake, you're gonna regret it. Don't do it." Regrets are inevitable and I feel like punching the shit out of anyone who tells me they've never regretted a single thing they've ever done. Either that, or running away b/c Criminal Minds has me convinced that every sociopath ever is a serial killer who's gonna disembowel me and then eat my innards. Either that, or it's Lord Voldemort... But that's another story altogether.
