REGRET.

Regret Is the Fear of Wasted Potential

Let’s be honest—what’s really holding most of us back isn’t a lack of talent or opportunity. It’s the fear of looking stupid. The fear of failing. And that fear? It’s costing us everything.

As of 2023, the average life expectancy is about 78.4 years. That might sound like a decent amount of time, but when you break it down, it’s not. If you're 20 years old right now, you've already lived about a quarter of your life—if you're fortunate enough to live that long. That’s assuming you don’t face a serious illness, an unexpected accident, or any of the other curveballs life can throw.

I’m not trying to be morbid, just real: for all we know, tomorrow isn’t promised. I could die tomorrow. You could. Anyone could. The only guarantee in life is death.

And knowing that, I’ve never understood how that fact alone doesn’t ignite a fire in everyone—a fire to chase their dreams relentlessly. To stop playing small. To aim for big goals and do everything in your power to accomplish them. I think we’ve all gotten way too familiar with the feeling of being content. But why? Because contentment is comfortable. It’s not scary or unusual—it’s easy, and it doesn’t require much, or really any effort at all. But there is so much regret in contentment.

Everyone on this planet was born with the potential to do great things, but only those who aren’t scared of failure—or of breaking out of their comfort zones—will ever reach their full potential.

Do you know how crazy it is that you’re alive and able to read this right now? The odds you had to beat just to be a human are insane. The fact that you are breathing at this exact moment should be testament enough to live a life full of ambition.

The hard thing about living a life without regret is knowing that, no matter what, you are going to fail. Failing is not fun. It sucks. It sucks to work so hard at something—to put your blood, sweat, and tears into it—just to eventually fail. But failure is inevitable.

I hate that there’s such a stigma around failing, because in all seriousness—what’s the worst that could happen? You fail and have to start over? In all honesty, what’s so bad about that? I see failure as a way to learn from your mistakes. Wouldn’t you rather work hard toward something you’ve always dreamed of doing—or a goal you’ve set for yourself—and fail over and over and over again, than not go for it at all?

That’s where regret comes into play. Because you can either choose to be afraid to make mistakes and never go after your goals, or you can try—and try—and try again until you finally get it right.

No one said it was going to be easy to live a life without regret—because it’s not. But what’s harder: knowing you never went for it because you were scared of failing, or failing over and over again and learning from that failure to work even harder at achieving your goals?

Regret doesn’t come from failing.
It comes from never trying.
From wondering what could’ve happened if you just went for it.

With Love, Brooklynn.