Regrets and Disappointments

Regrets and Disappointments

We make decisions every day. Mostly under a lot of uncertainty. As such, we open ourselves up to possible regrets and disappointments.

Regret that we either made a decision or did not. While disappointment is when what we expected to happen is not what the outcome was.

Regret is more action-based, while disappointment is outcome-based. The first is an emotion we experience when one realizes they could have been in a better situation had they acted differently.

The second is an emotion we experience when our expectation of a thing does not match the outcome.

While both emotions are interrelated, they work hand in hand as they are a function of the decisions we make.

Many people are worried they’d either regret making a decision or get disappointed. But decisions are decisions because they are largely unpredictable.

When deciding on the future, you are taking a bet. There is no guarantee you’ve made the right decision until the event has occurred.

But you can prevent regret by giving it a try, taking your shot, and taking action. If you get disappointed, that’s fine. It means your tried, but it did not work out.

This is a better outcome than not doing anything at all. Not doing anything at all means you’d never find out if it was worth it or not. Suppose that single action would have transformed your life or not.

Not every action will change your life, but because you never know which would or would not, you want to take as many chances as possible.

Paying for the course, talking to the girl, applying for the job, etc., all have the probability of changing your life, but nobody knows until you try it.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that it is better to be disappointed that it did not work out than to regret that you did not give it a try.

You don’t want to be on your death bed wishing you did some more or took some actions that, in hindsight, would have changed your life.

It is better to have experienced it and realize it wasn’t worth it than to regret not experiencing it. Disappointment says, “At least I know and I tried”

Regret says, “I wish I had tried”

to be continued…