So I've been doing some more thinking about this thread and the OP's request. And, well, it turns out I have just a bit more to say that insists on being put into a post.
The thing is that there are very real reasons to fear regret in later life, but it's not the stuff that you didn't know about or didn't think about or didn't see or that you wish you had known that is likely to cause you real regret down the road. No, actually, research has shown that what will really eat at you is the stuff that you DID know about, DID see, DID want or long for, but that you did NOT take action around because you were scared or afraid or lazy or whatever. THAT is what you really need to watch out for. If you stay in a career or college program or relationship when deep down you KNOW that it's not right. If you fail to take that chance, make that change, strike out on that path that you dream of--or even if you fail to EXPLORE such things--to experiment, to let experience be your teacher--THAT is what you are most likely to regret in later life.
So, I do, after all, have serious advice for you on this subject. When it comes to life, it is better to DO, and then reflect, rather than thinking and planning and worrying and trying to figure it all out perfectly BEFORE you act. Don't be afraid to make mistakes! They are absolutely necessary! Don't be afraid to take risks! They also are absolutely necessary for a fulfilling life, and also, paradoxically for "knowing thyself".
So think of life as a grand experiment, a great adventure, and of yourself as someone and something only in process of becoming, inchoate and nascent, and don't be afraid to break out and through. Everyone pays lip service to the idea that life is change, that change is inevitable and a part of life, but everyone at the very same time also wants a map of life, and a calculus and a formula, with a clear path and the dangers marked out in nice black ink. These two things are fundamentally at odds. The treasure of one period of life may become the danger of another period. What you once worked so hard for--what you studied for and interned for and networked for--that prestigious job at a law firm or on Wall Street--that very thing could become a burden and source of despair for you during the next period of life.
And most people are afraid to change careers--they've invested so much time and effort to get where they are--they have a good salary and benefits and a secure job--the thought of risking it all to follow some other path--well, that risk outweighs the risk that they'll regret staying in their job when they are older.
But research shows that few people regret taking such a risk, even if it doesn't work out--if they were genuinely unhappy and in need of a change, the attempt to change is not regretted, even if it fails--but on the other hand, many people regret NOT taking such risks when they are older.
You don't sell your soul all at once, like some Faustian bargain or a deal at the cross roads. You do it little by little, with every untrue action and every unfaithful non-action, and over the years it all adds up.
So right here, right now, in this present moment, when you know that there's some course you feel you should take or some course you feel you should avoid, but you're worried you'll regret it, don't. Worry instead that you'll regret NOT following your heart or your dreams or your gut, or whatever it is that is calling you or warning you.
Don't ask US what you might regret later in life! Only YOU know the answer to that--or you will. And when that time comes, be bold. Be bold.
And before that times comes--while you are waiting--when you have no idea about such things--be adventurous, be experimental! :devil:
