I have a personal edict – never feel regret. And yet…
Sometimes in life you are faced with making an important decision where all of the choices for resolution are bad. When that happens, you have to listen to your inner compass and choose the decision that seems the most ethical to you. So far so good, right?
Well, if you’re an adult, there’s a good chance that you’re in a relationship with someone else. Now your uncomfortable decision will affect this other person as well – and they may have chosen a different solution. Add to this dilemma a time constraint and the element of surprise and you have a perfect storm for making a decision where someone is going to be very unhappy. Welcome to life!
If you’re in a long term, lifelong relationship, what do you do when, years later, your partner angrily throws your decision resentfully back at you? Well, your first reaction is probably to feel like shit. Then feel angry, because you didn’t like the decision you felt compelled to make so many years ago, and maybe even embarrassed because you made it. But here’s the thing: you did the best you could at the time. Unfortunately your partner had to live with the shitty results of your attempt to make a decision that, although it seemed morally right to you, was also wrong for them. And you will always feel terrible about the whole fucking mess, but hey – nobody ever said life was going to be easy.
So what do you do? Apologize and move the fuck on. Because life will give you plenty more opportunities to choose between the lesser of two evils.
Accept that you’re not always going to get it right.
But try your best.