All of us are guilty at one time or another of looking back on some part of our lives with regret. It could be regret for something you said, someone you hurt, or something you failed to accomplish. Regret can be good when it helps you learn and grow. But regret can be bad when it slows your growth and keeps you clinging to your mistakes.

A lot of people cling to their mistakes and can’t seem to get over them. They continuously replay regretful situations in their minds until it seeps poisonous thoughts and feelings into their hearts and minds.

Regret at that point affects their lives. It makes people fall short of their full potential because they can’t let go of the past.

Don’t let regret rule you.

Don’t let regret rule you and affect the way you live your life! Remember, regret can be both positive and negative. Regret is negative when it makes you waste energy looking backwards and wishing things were different. You can’t change your past.

You can, though, carry lessons learned forward. Take those lessons and use them to change your life so that mistakes of the past are corrected. Doing that is okay, just do it in a healthy way.

Looking forward

Looking forward and using lessons to make your life better is how regret can be helpful. You know what’s behind you. You see what’s now. But the future is where life is taking you. You can’t control anymore what’s behind you. You can only control the now and where your actions will take you.

Look forward and celebrate the things you learned from what happened in the past. Make each day an opportunity. Take the lesson from the past and move forward with a renewed sense of what you can improve and change in the future.

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Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. 

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