The Sprout

No Regrets?

Posted by emb789 from Cardiff - Published on 01/03/2011 at 10:39
3 comments » - Tagged as People

Tweet

There comes a time in every person’s life, when they must face a tough decision. While this choice varies from person to person and while they may occur more commonly for some, this will always happen. An extreme case would be one from a film I saw recently, Death Note: Change the World. A scientist had developed an antidote to a virus that could kill within five minutes. If the bad guys got the antidote, they would be unstoppable and the world would be doomed. He had deleted all of the antidote data, and only had one antidote left. The baddies had him trapped, and they said to him that if he didn’t hand over the antidote, they would kill his daughter.

Or, if you find out that the world you live in is, in fact, not real, and it was created by some guys in suits and Hugo Weaving, and in the real world everyone was sleeping in coffins, never waking up, overall being treated badly, and you were offered a chance to escape from this fake world and save the real one, would you do it? (In case you hadn’t guessed, I wasn’t paying much attention when I watched The Matrix)

Fortunately, many people will never have to face choices like these. For a less extreme example, someone is offered two free cinema tickets. They are both films this someone would love to see, and tickets for both are sold out for infinity. These films are on at the same time. Which ticket does this person choose?

Everyone is faced with choices, and ultimately, everyone has regrets. But ultimately, you never know what your choice could cause. Your choice could lead to (Spoiler Alert! Release the spoiler bots!) the humans in green coffin things being released and living happily ever after, and Hugo Weaving being defeated, or your choice could lead to your daughter being pursued by some baddies and almost being murdered on multiple occasions.

Whenever I feel regret, I think to myself, “What could have happened if I didn’t do that? What could have happened if I hadn’t been honest? What could have happened if we hadn’t taken action?” And when you think about the possibilities, you’ll realise that really, whatever has happened isn’t the worst thing that could have happened. For example, that scientist could have given a group of people who thought the Earth’s ecosystem was in danger from overpopulation and pollution, a virus for killing everyone instantly. To quote Dr. Pepper, a wise, wise man, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Everyone has made a choice that has led to something bad, at some point in their lives. Atticus Finch didn’t take Bob Ewell’s threats seriously, which led to (More spoilers! Run for the hills!) his children almost dying, his son’s arm being broken and Bob’s death. (The spoilers are gone! Our children are safe!)

I suppose, I am trying to say two things, and two things only (I’m just doing it in a very long winded way). Don’t waste away on regret, and don’t tear yourself apart over choices. No matter what you choose to do, there will be a chance of it going horribly wrong, so don’t agonize over whether you pull the lever and kill the bad guys, or don’t pull the lever and let the doctor live. Just make a decision. Everyone will die eventually, and no matter what you choose, you will have blood on your hands.

To quote a wise man (David Bowie), “You can neither win nor lose, if you don’t run the race.” So stop dithering, make a decision and stand by it. Don’t look back, or you may just fall flat on your face. Be sure to floss. Turns out that stuff is important. Final quote of the article: “Don't look back in anger, I heard you say."

IMAGE: History Eraser Button by World of Oddy