Today I came across an idea that had a big impact on me. There has been a study made by two U.S. universities on 370 people about the regret of doing things versus the regret of not doing things. The conclusion is that when we do things and regret it, the experience is more painful, but it doesn’t last that long (most of the time it lasts two weeks). However, the regret of not doing things is not as painful, but it lasts for years having bigger impact on our lives.
So whenever we have a dilemma about something, we should ask ourselves if we should do something about that and maybe suffer a couple of weeks because things didn’t work out the way we planned, or if we should do nothing about it and regret it for years.
Of course, this doesn’t apply to everything. Actually, the most common regrets are about love, education and work. So I think we should consider the results of this study whenever we have a dilemma in these domains.
If you analyze your past, what kind of regrets do you have? Your most powerful regrets are about doing things or about not doing things?
I think some parts of my past i regret doing, which then leads me to regretting not doing other things
I don’t regret anything 🙂 it coz lead me to what I have and want today 🤠 only regret could be overthinking myself for who I am 🤓
I regret sometimes looking for flaws in everything and life in general !!
Otherwise everything is perfect as it is.. but we want chaos isn’t it.. harmony is too boring… regret is a part of chaos
But harmony blends in once you realise this.. and this is my blogs theme too. Creative chaos
It might seem that in our search for harmony, we’re creating chaos and we lke it.
They are necessary polarities !
even in a painting a splotch of colors here and there lends it beauty.. the problem is we cant accept we love chaos… but as long its creative its k
Chaos when seemed unchecked leads to destruction
Agreed!
Check out my latest blogpost… its on how to cultivate the spirit of rennaissance 🙂
I do not regret much but the things I do I’m still glad I gave it a try so I can understand myself better.
That’s a very good approach! Keep asking and you’ll understand yourself better and better. I think it’s something we should all do.
I agree that the sting of regret for things not done lasts longer, however also believe that even regret can be a positive, if we allow it to teach us how to break through and do more for ourselves and others in the future.
That’s the lesson that regret wants to teach us.
Before doing/saying anything, or not, it’s good to pause and ask
1. Will this help me?
2. Will this help others?
3. Will I regret doing/not doing this later?
The pause alone can make things clearer … try it!
That might help. Thanks for sharing!
you’re welcome!