Have you ever done something, or perhaps *not* done something you should have, as a manager, a boss, a game administrator, a friend, a loved one... Have you ever not done something you should've done because you felt that you didn't have enough information, or that you felt that you couldn't, or that precedent had you taking the path of least resistance, or even (or maybe especially) because you dislike confrontation?
And has that decision, especially that one to *not* do something, turned out to be the wrong one later? Months later, years later, it doesn't matter, because now, that decision you made not to act...now, it's causing problems for other people--people you care about, people you love, people whose friendships you value.
How do you apologize to all of those people for not doing something you should have? How do you deal with the overpowering sense of regret that it makes you feel? That paralyzing 'I could have, *should have* done something' feeling...or, even worse, feeling that all the reasons you gave at the time are now useless--things that are, in the grander scheme, nothing more than flimsy excuses.
Because I *do* regret now what I didn't do then. I hate that I backed down, that I gave up my opportunity to do something because it was easier for me. I hate that it's now up to someone else to do something that I should have.
Oh yes, I regret.
Posted by Liz at March 22, 2005 05:30 AM