Gemma Speck

It doesn't reduce moral standards.

It actually means you're more likely to take responsibility.

You're more likely to apologize, to want to change.

And again, it actually reduces future likelihood of encountering a similar situation, acting in the same way, and doubling your regret.

As we wrap up this episode on the psychology of regret, I want to say it is impossible to live without regret.

It is one of those emotional scars we all get as humans.

The same as heartbreak, the same as grief.

It also reflects the fact that we get choices and that we have agency and that we have things that we care about.

I've been trying to do this thing lately for every emotional thing or event I fear or that I think is bad.

or that I don't enjoy, like regret, I imagine what life would be like without it.

Like if regret was an emotion we just couldn't feel, or we could opt out of, or we didn't have access to, would that be better?

And honestly, I actually think the world would be way worse.

People would be terrible to each other because they wouldn't have regrets about it.

And again, I think we wouldn't have the agency we have over our lives now is a worthy price to me, you know, that I am able to regret because I have choices.

If I didn't regret, I wouldn't have choices and I wouldn't have the freedom to choose.

And that in itself is a blessing.

So that is my final takeaway message from this episode, not to be

you know, not to be too toxically positive, but yeah, how can we see regret as maybe an asset rather than a weakness at times?

If you enjoyed this episode, I would really recommend you go and listen to our episode on the 20 biggest regrets people have in their 20s.

That full list is incredible and so much effort went into that episode and there's so much to learn, especially if you like knowing things