Regret: How To Stop Regretting Our Decisions?

Do you feel like regrets are invading your mind? Do you think you are always regretting your past decisions? Discover how regret affects us and how to solve it.

Why do we feel regret?

He repentance It arises after experimentation from the feeling that one could have chosen an option that would have brought different, more positive consequences for oneself. On many occasions, words of regret are usually related to thinking that we had an alternative that could have been better for us today.

When someone is regretful or regretful, you feel bad inside and out. Regret generates a negative feeling that leads us to think badly about ourselves, so much so that these messages of regret tend to have a tendency to punish and blame us as if at the moment of choosing the option we knew what was going to happen.

All the regrets They are stored in our memory ready to come out when the next one appears and accumulate them in the famous “ought”. Despite all the negative things that can be related to regret, regret fulfills a positive function if you know how to use it well, which is learning from mistakes. Of course, as long as that learning is not a constant flogging.

What is repentance?

Someone who tends to regret too much or who is constantly regretful usually experiences a negative emotion related to a decision and a belief that it could have been done better. Regret and phrases that crush us inside are usually related to certain feelings of guilt and shame. So much so that a synonym for repentance is precisely having apologetic attitudes towards ourselves.

The messages of repentance They are usually characterized by a negativity towards our past in general, making the repentant feel bad about what they can no longer change. In many cases, regrets tend to be long-lasting emotions that are difficult to eliminate from our minds.

How does repentance affect us?

Although if we use it in a positive way the repentance It can bring great changes in our lives, the reality is that most of us do not know how to use regrets in that sense. It is for this reason that on many occasions the words of regret resonating in our minds can have consequences for our mental health. In this way, being repentant and not learning from our mistakes can lead to the following.

  • make bad decisions
  • Anxiety
  • Chronic feelings of sadness
  • Culpability
  • Gonna
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It is because of these precise sensations that regret phrases What we tell ourselves can harm us in different aspects of our lives. So much so that in many cases this can contribute to suffering from depression. In these cases, to cope with feelings of regret, it is vital to consult with a professional psychologist.

Causes of regret

Causes of regret

He regret in definition It has many consequences for our lives. Therefore, it is essential to try to determine its origin or causes in order to act on these emotions.

1. Not achieving a goal

When we are about to achieve something and we don’t do it, the feeling is profound. repentance For example, the person who comes fourth in a competition and there is a prize for the first three feels great regret. “If I had saved my energy at the beginning I could have done a sprint and reached the finish line sooner.” In the same way, when one falls short of winning something, the regret is greater than if one remains in third position.

2. Making decisions that you think were wrong

When control of the situation depends mainly on you and you feel the only one responsible for the result, obviously if it goes wrong you will think badly of yourself and regret what happened. For example, if you are driving and your partner tells you to go down a path and you decide to ignore it and drive where you think, if you are late you will feel the weight of responsibility and guilt, since the choice was yours. However, you will never know what would have happened the other way, maybe you would have arrived late too. But in that case repentance would be smaller or even non-existent.

3. Changes of opinion

Last-minute changes of opinion that generate negative consequences that tend to make the person feel regretful or regretful If, for example, you are going to buy a lottery ticket and you are between two numbers, if you choose and then the chosen number has no prize while the one you were going to choose has been awarded, you will feel deep regret. The feeling of having missed a train, a lost opportunity, is generated, although in reality this is not the case because you did not know what could happen. Or for example, if you have two job interviews on the same day and you can’t go to both, if the one you choose to go to doesn’t end up getting you the position, you will feel regret for not being able to go to the other one.

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4. Choosing from too many options

When we have many options to choose from we feel more repentance By having several options to choose from, if we choose poorly, we feel more regret than if we had been able to choose only two options. It is as if the mistake made is magnified. For example, if you like several professions to start a professional career and you choose, but then it turns out that you don’t like the one you have chosen, you will feel worse than if you only had one clear profession. The feeling is: “with all the options I had and I went to choose the worst”.

Reasons why we feel regret

5. Emotional bond

Regret is greater when it has to do with social or romantic relationships. If you feel that you have made a mistake in choosing a partner, the regret you may experience will be very high. If this relationship has also taken a long time, the feeling of regret will be greater. These types of decisions, when considered more important, make them more difficult to make and can be postponed for a long time. That is, many people usually regret leaving a relationship due to all the emotional changes that this decision entails.

6. Perfectionist people

In many cases, people who tend to feel more regrets tend to have a tendency towards an overly perfectionist personality. So much so that in various cases these repentance messages Constant symptoms usually end up reducing the self-esteem of the person who suffers from it to such an excessive degree.

Is repentance useful?

There are infinite times in which we think that a life without regrets is the one to which we all aspire. But the reality is that repentance has a utility that we do not know how to appreciate: learning from our mistakes. It is for this reason that a synonym of regret It’s frustration. All of this is related to feeling that we have failed in an instant when in reality it is impossible for us to ever make a mistake.

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Regret is beneficial as it can help us improve our decision-making skills in the future. That is why, thanks to the regrets We can learn to be our best version.

How to stop regretting?

How to overcome regret?

If you think you are a person who is constantly experiencing regret, there are some tips you can follow to get out of it. Additionally, you can always count on the help of a mental health professional to learn from your mistakes. To leave aside the words of regret you can do the following.

  • Don’t avoid the memories

The more you avoid or suppress a memory or an emotion that is linked to regret phrases the more you will have these sensations. Therefore, it is vital that you face each of these thoughts.

  • forgive yourself

He repentance and forgiveness They always go hand in hand. The reason is that to stop regretting we must try to forgive ourselves. For this reason, you must learn to accept what has happened without having to give an assessment about it.

  • Accept your imperfection

Nobody is perfect, therefore anyone can make a mistake. For this reason, decisions will also be imperfect. He repentance It is a consequence of the way we are, so accept it and stop judging yourself for every decision you have made in the past.

  • Take actions

If a decision from the past has affected you in the future you can only do one thing: start acting. It’s no use filling your mind with regrets since the past is out of your control.

These are some tips you can follow to stop being sorry The essential thing is to try to work on our present to improve the future. You must keep in mind that no matter how much you regret what happened, past decisions will never change.