It is also obvious that time flows in one direction, that you cannot recover time you have spent on one thing over another.
It is likewise obvious, though strangely difficult for people, especially the young, to grasp, that time spent waffling in FOMO-land is time totally wasted grasping in vain at everything, never attaining anything. "Decision" comes from the Latin "decidere", itself from "de" and "caedere", meaning to "cut off" [0]. Yes, to decide is to cut off, to give up options for the sake of the higher good, in order to proceed.
And lastly, it is equally obvious that obsessing over a past that we imagine that could have been is also a complete waste of time. The clock is ticking, time is running out, and instead of focusing on what can be done now, what can be done with the time left, how to make the best of where you are and what is possible and prudent, you blow away whatever time remains all the more.
Now, if one has indeed made mistakes, the last thing one should do is deny that one has. Denial is opposed to integrity and renders a person impotent, stagnant, and numb, with the worm of guilt gnawing at the soul. Admit it, and if necessary, make reparations, do your penance, obtain absolution. Then move on. Life does not stand still for anyone. Salvage from the wreckage what is good, and go foward. No one said you will be able to recover the life you lost, or thought you lost. Actions are not unitary operations. They have no inverse. Life is an append-only log, a directed acyclic graph. Persisting in attachments to what was ostensibly lost blinds you to what you should do next. Move on. Keep tilling the land for the harvest. Dismiss whatever draws you away and weakens your commitment to the objective good.
It is also obvious that time flows in one direction, that you cannot recover time you have spent on one thing over another.
It is likewise obvious, though strangely difficult for people, especially the young, to grasp, that time spent waffling in FOMO-land is time totally wasted grasping in vain at everything, never attaining anything. "Decision" comes from the Latin "decidere", itself from "de" and "caedere", meaning to "cut off" [0]. Yes, to decide is to cut off, to give up options for the sake of the higher good, in order to proceed.
And lastly, it is equally obvious that obsessing over a past that we imagine that could have been is also a complete waste of time. The clock is ticking, time is running out, and instead of focusing on what can be done now, what can be done with the time left, how to make the best of where you are and what is possible and prudent, you blow away whatever time remains all the more.
Now, if one has indeed made mistakes, the last thing one should do is deny that one has. Denial is opposed to integrity and renders a person impotent, stagnant, and numb, with the worm of guilt gnawing at the soul. Admit it, and if necessary, make reparations, do your penance, obtain absolution. Then move on. Life does not stand still for anyone. Salvage from the wreckage what is good, and go foward. No one said you will be able to recover the life you lost, or thought you lost. Actions are not unitary operations. They have no inverse. Life is an append-only log, a directed acyclic graph. Persisting in attachments to what was ostensibly lost blinds you to what you should do next. Move on. Keep tilling the land for the harvest. Dismiss whatever draws you away and weakens your commitment to the objective good.
[0] https://www.etymonline.com/word/decision#etymonline_v_857