A Final Reflection on Regret

Before he died he said: “i wish i had known that i could be more ambitious, that i could desire more.”

He regretted, but it was too late.

I stood there wondering … what if he did desire more? what if he were more ambitious? Would he have regretted that?

Maybe he would have regretted that too.

But a different kind of regret, not the regret of unlived potential but the regret of having reached for more, and still fallen short.

But maybe that’s an easier kind of regret to live with, at least it means he tried. And maybe that’s the only kind of regret worth having.