Regret

I always hear people say "Live in the present, don't regret things from the past." I don't think it's good to carry regrets, but I have a hard time not regretting things in my past. There are things that I still think about and regret from when I was in high school, as well as regrets from just the following week. How do I learn to not regret things I have done or haven't done? Most of my regrets are not things that I've done, but things that I haven't done. All of my life I've been afraid of not being good at something or being rejected, and therefore haven't taken many risks. I've always lived on the safe side. I thought of this as I was listening to a song by my favorite artist Chris Cagle called "The Safe Side"

Have you ever wondered what life would be like
If you'd only went left instead of taking that right
If you had waited just ten more minutes to leave the house
Would it all be different
Every decision everything we choose has a consequence whether we win or lose
Nobody knows that any better than me
I left her standing at the station with a ticket and a dream

She's the train that I didn't take
The big commitment I just couldn't make
For fear of breaking my heart, I didn't risk the ride
She's the lesson I learned the hard way
Now being lonely is the price I pay
The river of regret runs deep and wide
Here on the safe side

I still remember the night she left
She said she didn't want to lose me, but she had to find herself
I could've stopped her or got on board with her
But now it's too late to reconsider
She's the train that I didn't take
The big commitment I just couldn't make
For fear of breaking my heart, I didn't risk the ride
She's the lesson I learned the hard way
Now being lonely is the price I pay
The river of regret runs deep and wide
Here on the safe side
Sometimes the greatest risk of all
Is never taking one at all
She's the train that I didn't take
The big commitment I just couldn't make
For fear of breaking my heart, I didn't risk the ride
She's the lesson I learned the hard way
Now being lonely is the price I pay
The river of regret runs deep and wide
Here on the safe side
Oh I don't want to be alone
Here on the safe side


The one thing I really hope to learn is how to use my regrets to better myself. If I regret not doing something, maybe I will learn to do it next time. If I regret not telling someone something, maybe I will tell them the next time. I just hope that I learn and not let these past regrets just haunt me and not help me to change.