Several months ago, after a day of shooting, I stopped at Kohl’s on my way home to look for a new camera bag. Yes, Kohl’s. I had just ordered a rectangular shaped padded foam case to hold my camera and lenses, which allowed me more flexibility in the type of bag I carried my equipment in.
Checking out their large selection of bags, armed with $20 in Kohl’s cash and a 30% off coupon, I overheard a lady shopping with her elderly mom. Her mom was looking at a particular bag, but couldn’t decide. Her daughter then said, “If you don’t buy it, will you regret it?”
We make choices every day. We consider the pros and cons, we debate whether to wait to see if a particular item goes on sale, just how much use will we get out of a certain item versus the cost, etc., etc. But I couldn’t remember ever asking myself if I’d regret not buying something. Something in the way she worded that statement made me think. The words she chose made the question sound more serious than the purchase of a bag.
Regret is on my list of things to avoid, right up there at the top next to jury duty. It’s a scary, sad sounding word, something no one wants to experience. We do our best to make the right choices, but we still find that hindsight is always 20/20. I’ve realized through the years, though, that regret itself is also a choice. We can choose to blame ourselves for bad choices and regret the outcome, or chalk it up to experience and move on.
What will you choose?
I try not to regret things…but it is human nature. I have wanted some things – not bought and then gone back and boom gone – I just figure it wasn’t meant to be and move on. There are things I have done in life I regret but then I realize that they helped me grow or learn something new.
I agree.. That’s one way I view purchases.. “How mad will I be if I pass this up and it disappears?” LOL As for life, I try to remind myself that everything is a blessing or lesson.