Monologue: Angela Ye

If I could only share one piece of advice for the rest of my life, it would be:

No regrets. Or at least try. I’m very fond of the saying, “Don’t regret what you did. Regret what you didn’t do.” I’m sure the actually saying is something a little different, but this variation is the one I like better.

People tear themselves apart over something they’ve done and it completely wrecks them. If they just stopped regretting their actions, they wouldn’t have to drive themselves into such a terrible state.

Personally, I try not to regret the things I didn’t do either. The past is the past, and I can’t do anything to change it. The only thing I can do is live with my actions, or lack of them. Of course, I could agonize over every action I ever made and nitpick at all the things I could have done differently, but what point is there in that?

Obviously, sometimes I do agonize over things, but I try not to dwell. Living in my past is the worst thing I could do because it’s so easy. It would be so easy to sit down and use the shit I did in the past as an excuse to wallow and not to make myself better. It’s so much easier than dealing with what’s going on now, but what’s the point of living like that? It’s not living at all. It’s just existing.

What’s done is done and can not be undone. So, the best course of action would be to move on with one’s life and learn from those previous actions. There would be nothing better than to turn regrettable actions into life lessons. No regrets.