Regret is a sign, you’ve grown.

The ocean doesn't apologise for its storms.

We treat regret like a shameful thing.

Like a scar that reveals our failure.

Like something to deny, erase, push past.

We say: No regrets. Everything happens for a reason. I wouldn’t change a thing.

The truth most of us carry in quiet moments:

There are things we would do differently now.

Words we wish we had said or taken back.

Red flags we now see clearly.

People we stayed with too long or let go too soon.

And feeling that?

That’s not weakness.

Regret is a sign you’ve grown.

It means you’re able to see from a new vantage point.

It means you’ve developed language for what you didn’t know then.

It means you’re becoming more aware, more compassionate, and more awake.

Regret doesn’t have to define you, but it can inform you.

It can become a teacher, not a jailer.

You don’t need to live in the past to honour what it showed you.

You just need to let yourself feel it without turning it into a sentence.

Because the goal isn’t to become someone who never regrets anything.

The goal is to become someone who listens to regret without becoming consumed by it.

To say:

I didn’t know then what I know now.
And now that I know, I’ll choose differently.

That’s not a shame.

That’s self-leadership.

That’s growth.

And it’s something to be proud of.

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