[sshine]

> when I was younger I always said I don't regret anything I do

A better angle is: Don't act in such a way that you'll regret it.

That advice doesn't tackle dealing with things you regret.

But neither does "I regret nothing!" -- it is not instructive as to what is good, or how to process events, it just gives a free pass to any behavior. Only young people and Edith Piaf say this.

[ativzzz]

> it just gives a free pass to any behavior.

Totally disagree. I am not free from the consequences of my actions. I'm simply saying it's a waste of mental energy to drag yourself down based on events that happened in the past. You can learn from things you've done and if something was a mistake in hindsight, you can avoid those mistakes in the future.

But I try not regret making any mistakes I've made because there's no point. You can't objectively judge your decisions if they're clouded in an emotional haze

[sshine]

> it's a waste of mental energy to drag yourself down based on events that happened in the past

I completely agree.

But I'm trying to make the distinction between "don't obtain debt" and "don't pay debt".

> if something was a mistake in hindsight, you can avoid those mistakes in the future

There's a word for the process of concluding that something was a mistake: regret.

I think the difference in understanding comes from what we put into the word.

Regret is a word loaded with emotion.

If the purpose is to say "don't beat yourself up endlessly", I 100% agree.

But beat yourself up a little and let go. :-)

Preventing mistakes requires regretting them.