Someone who was once influential in my life often said to have no regrets.

This person has many regrets — it is obvious — and has chosen to avoid facing his destructive behaviors. His “no regrets” mantra is all about pride, about ignoring the beaten and the wounded on the path behind him. He is one miserable old man.

Regrets are good teaching tools in my opinion. All of us should live long enough to realize at least one thing we could have done differently. Wishing we had done things differently cannot possibly change the past, but it can certainly direct the decisions we make now that will affect the future.

When someone tells me that looking back upon the ruins on the path I’ve already trodden is pointless, I tell them that I’ve yet more roads to travel and that the legacy I choose to leave is of one who has learned from her mistakes.

© Alexa Lopez 2007