Forecasting Regret
I was thinking about regret today; how powerful it is; how painful it can sometimes be...but mostly how restorative it can be. I've had conversations with people where you pose that fun question...if you could change anything about your past, what would it be? Inevitably there's that sucker who says, "oh I wouldn't change a thing because then I wouldn't be where I am today." Personally, I think that's crap. I think everyone who lives and breathes has some kind of longing or regret that they wonder about sometimes, thinking...Man, I wonder how my life would be different if I had just done so and so.
If you've ever watched any kind of time travel movie you know that in theory even the slightest differences can create the most profound effect. For instance, right now I'm on my lunch break...and instead of watching Home Improvement like I usually do, while the dog plays on the floor, I am choosing to blog about this thought I'm having. Consequently, you're now caught up having to read about those thoughts...How would your life change from this moment if you chose to keep reading as opposed to turning off your computer and going for a walk? How would my life change for that matter if instead of blogging or watching TV, I chose to play with the dog thus distracting him from ripping that magazine up into tiny pieces. Later, I'll find that pile of shredded paper and have to spend 30 minutes picking up every little shred. Will things just even out for me? Would I have just spent that 30 minutes blogging this message? Who's to say that that 30 minutes I could have spent with Taylor wouldn't end up making him a more obedient dog and now someday we'll be out for a walk and because I didnt spend those 30 minutes with him on a lunch break he jumps up on someone's kid, knocking them down causing their mom to get really ticked at me and sue me for not properly restraining my aggressive dog in public places?!
I think this is where I'm supposed to digress...But instead, I'm going to let the thought take over.
What if every choice we made in our lives we considered ourselves 10 or 15 years in the future. What impact on THAT person will this choice have? better yet, why not just implement the regrets from your own life 15 years ago? I may have lost you at that turn...
Let's say for example, if you asked me the question, if you could go back and change anything about being 15, what would it be? Well, that was 15 years ago for me, so a little change then could have had a big impact on me today. But lets say I chose to regret how little energy I really put into track. "man," I would lament, "if only i had put my heart and soul into track and field maybe I could have broken that record and had my picture in the glass case in front of the gym. Or maybe I would have become a runner then and be fit and healthy now as a result."
What if, instead of regretting those things, i just behaved in such a way as to "forecast the regret?"
For example, tomorrow at 5am, my alarm will go off signaling that I need to get up and train for my marathon in December. I'm terrible at training and really have always done just enough to survive. Sometimes I've survived faster than others, but I've always barely just made it. Every race I've ever been in, I've had some level of regret for having not trained better. Instead of wasting energy on that regret at some point in the future, why not make an attempt to forecast that regret and say, "no, I need to get up and do this walk, or I'll really regret it later."
So what things am I doing or not doing now that I know I could stand to regret later? Better still, what things from the past do I regret that its not too late to do? Better even still, what things do I regret about life 10 or 15 years ago that I STILL do!!?
anyway...thats lunch...right now I regret not laying down and taking a nap as I'm pretty sleepy and a little nap would have changed my life. lol.
If you've ever watched any kind of time travel movie you know that in theory even the slightest differences can create the most profound effect. For instance, right now I'm on my lunch break...and instead of watching Home Improvement like I usually do, while the dog plays on the floor, I am choosing to blog about this thought I'm having. Consequently, you're now caught up having to read about those thoughts...How would your life change from this moment if you chose to keep reading as opposed to turning off your computer and going for a walk? How would my life change for that matter if instead of blogging or watching TV, I chose to play with the dog thus distracting him from ripping that magazine up into tiny pieces. Later, I'll find that pile of shredded paper and have to spend 30 minutes picking up every little shred. Will things just even out for me? Would I have just spent that 30 minutes blogging this message? Who's to say that that 30 minutes I could have spent with Taylor wouldn't end up making him a more obedient dog and now someday we'll be out for a walk and because I didnt spend those 30 minutes with him on a lunch break he jumps up on someone's kid, knocking them down causing their mom to get really ticked at me and sue me for not properly restraining my aggressive dog in public places?!
I think this is where I'm supposed to digress...But instead, I'm going to let the thought take over.
What if every choice we made in our lives we considered ourselves 10 or 15 years in the future. What impact on THAT person will this choice have? better yet, why not just implement the regrets from your own life 15 years ago? I may have lost you at that turn...
Let's say for example, if you asked me the question, if you could go back and change anything about being 15, what would it be? Well, that was 15 years ago for me, so a little change then could have had a big impact on me today. But lets say I chose to regret how little energy I really put into track. "man," I would lament, "if only i had put my heart and soul into track and field maybe I could have broken that record and had my picture in the glass case in front of the gym. Or maybe I would have become a runner then and be fit and healthy now as a result."
What if, instead of regretting those things, i just behaved in such a way as to "forecast the regret?"
For example, tomorrow at 5am, my alarm will go off signaling that I need to get up and train for my marathon in December. I'm terrible at training and really have always done just enough to survive. Sometimes I've survived faster than others, but I've always barely just made it. Every race I've ever been in, I've had some level of regret for having not trained better. Instead of wasting energy on that regret at some point in the future, why not make an attempt to forecast that regret and say, "no, I need to get up and do this walk, or I'll really regret it later."
So what things am I doing or not doing now that I know I could stand to regret later? Better still, what things from the past do I regret that its not too late to do? Better even still, what things do I regret about life 10 or 15 years ago that I STILL do!!?
anyway...thats lunch...right now I regret not laying down and taking a nap as I'm pretty sleepy and a little nap would have changed my life. lol.
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