Why Regret Yesterday And Fear The Next Day?

 

Question:  HOW many times were you regretful of something that happened in the past?  And HOW many times were you worrying about tomorrow, and even that distant future?  Once, I met someone in that dilemma and he told me point blank that his own REGRET were like whirling around and around his mind like a whirlpool threatening to suck him in and later drown him.  I was flabbergasted because he was a poet and during those trying times, he was consistently poetic as he eloquently expressed his innermost struggles into words.  The thing is, ruminations about past indiscretions, OR opportunities NOT taken OR decisions that were poorly arrived at, are remarkably common to most of us

WHICH brings me to remember some of those poetic one-liners like:  MANY OF US CRUCIFY OURSELVES BETWEEN 2 THIEVES, REGRET FOR THE PAST AND FEAR FOR THE FUTURE.  While this quotation has religious references, it is typically stripped of its original Christian connotations EXCEPT WHEN we use it in religious contexts.  Being more theoretical, I am tempted to tag this as our own way of self-sabotaging.  Like thieves, cognitive distortions a about the past and the future would likely steal the joy of the moment and rob us of our appreciation of the present

Out of respect to those WHO we may not share the same religious beliefs, the thing is, we tend to secularize useful ideas with religious origins.  And we can find many such examples in our everyday language LIKE "IT IS NOT SET IN STONE" [which somehow makes reference to that immutable 10 Commandments inscribed on stone OR the 'GOSPEL TRUTH' which invokes the Gospel stories to emphasize the veracity of a statement

WHILE I did have my fair share of missteps [and even blunders in the distant past], regretting the past OR fearing the future were NEVER a part of those missteps OR miscues.  WHY?  In the olden days WHEN technology was NOT that mature, we DIDN'T even know about that UNDO function.  And that was a huge blessing, else that could have egged us to hunger for that UNDO function even in our life lessons.  And fearing the future?  I always reminded myself, WHY should I get hostaged by the future???

Our takeaway:  Much as we all live an imperfect life, we have been harping a zillion times that we should LIVE IN THE PRESENT, LIVE IN THE MOMENT.  WHY?  Because that is the best time for you exert your best efforts for whatever endeavor and pursuit you are focused.  Much as you could have committed a huge blunder yesterday, the least you can do is to LEARN YOUR LESSONS and never to repeat that same mistake come next day again.  And fearing the future?  God knows WHAT's in stock for you in the future.  WHY get so hanged up WHEN the calendar has yet to flip over?  YES dude, live life, LIVE IN THE MOMENT more than yesterday and without being pre-hostaged by the next day that has yet to dawn