Is regret useful? That depends.
Are you using regret as a tool for change or are you using it as a weapon against yourself?
I’ve used it both ways, and nothing positive comes out of using regret against myself.
When you use regret against yourself, you are stuck in the past wishing it was different, and the past can never be different.
It’s easy to keep questioning the past and where things went wrong when your teen starts abusing substances.
For years I asked myself over and over what I could have done different as a mom that would have kept my daughter from abusing drugs.
It wasn’t useful.
There was no definitive answer, just self-blame, pain, and living in the past instead of the present.
If you live your life in the past, you will create a future of regret for all the moments that you missed.
The power of regret is learning the lesson and doing something different today.
Look at the past as a teacher, but don’t stay there.
Take the lesson learned from regret, make changes, and do something different.