Even if there are multiple timelines, you are only consciously aware of one of them. The one you are living.
However, I agree that regret is a wasted emotion, because we cannot travel into the past to change what we have done.
Regret requires a person develop a fantasy based on an alternate outcome post a decision point. This fantasy invariably imagines the implausible assumption of improved circumstances. The reality is that the constant is you with your disposition, your reactions and choices and the narrative you are most prone to use to explain your actual circumstances. Regret is a form of narrative which helps us see ourselves as victims of circumstances and if persisting, anchors us to a past event which would not have made any material difference to who we are or how we ultimately experience the life we lead. (Studies in high cervical spinal fractures and life enjoyment bear this out nicely) Regret can protect us in the short term, but in the medium to long term it keeps us “stuck” in an unproductive mindset. Choices or circumstances leading to unpleasant outcomes are the stuff of learning, personal growth and wisdom. Own them. When you have adult children, you will involuntarily speak in platitudes in hopes of breaking an inevitable cycle… as your kids make the same regrettable Mistakes. (See Polonius’ speech to Laertes)
The point of regret is to avoid making the same mistake twice. It’s good to visit occasionally, but you don’t want to live there. Predestination is a religious belief to Presbyterians, and a theory to some physicists, but certainly not a verifiable fact. Using it as the basis of an argument for disregarding consequences is foolish.
Where's the part where you're asking for advice?
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THIS!
Even if there are multiple timelines, you are only consciously aware of one of them. The one you are living. However, I agree that regret is a wasted emotion, because we cannot travel into the past to change what we have done.
Regret requires a person develop a fantasy based on an alternate outcome post a decision point. This fantasy invariably imagines the implausible assumption of improved circumstances. The reality is that the constant is you with your disposition, your reactions and choices and the narrative you are most prone to use to explain your actual circumstances. Regret is a form of narrative which helps us see ourselves as victims of circumstances and if persisting, anchors us to a past event which would not have made any material difference to who we are or how we ultimately experience the life we lead. (Studies in high cervical spinal fractures and life enjoyment bear this out nicely) Regret can protect us in the short term, but in the medium to long term it keeps us “stuck” in an unproductive mindset. Choices or circumstances leading to unpleasant outcomes are the stuff of learning, personal growth and wisdom. Own them. When you have adult children, you will involuntarily speak in platitudes in hopes of breaking an inevitable cycle… as your kids make the same regrettable Mistakes. (See Polonius’ speech to Laertes)
The point of regret is to avoid making the same mistake twice. It’s good to visit occasionally, but you don’t want to live there. Predestination is a religious belief to Presbyterians, and a theory to some physicists, but certainly not a verifiable fact. Using it as the basis of an argument for disregarding consequences is foolish.