I know one thing. If you regret having children, your kids don’t want or need to hear about it. That’s the tough part. Parents need to work through their regret. Regret is normal and very human. Conversely, if you don’t like your parents or regret your childhood, the people who raised you don’t need to unpack that with you. Negotiating your childhood regret is what you unpack through your adulthood. While you are regretting your own children, if you have them.
I hope the last sentence sparked a little levity alongside the reality of living through some of life's really HUGE CHANGE journeys all at the same time. When I close my eyes and acknowledge all of the life changes that came with moving from the teenage to adult years. Then, if I add being married, learning about how work works. And finally top it off with the daily endeavor of becoming a parent that takes your child’s lifetime, regret is not a surprise to me.
Expecting regret and figuring out how to be in the presence of your regret is really what we have the chance to do openly in our generation.
Let's face it. People have had regrets about all of their family members and different parts of the family experience for a very long time.
The breakthrough is that we can talk aloud in this generation.
I personally believe expressing regret and taking the steps to learn how to live with little to no regret is a very healthy part of adult development.
Here’s the article on Parental Regret that got me thinking about the topic.
Do you want to know what soul work looks like with respect to regret?.
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