Regrets

on choices, timelines, and what could have been.

It's human nature to romanticize the path they did not take. Our days are constantly filled with regrets and what-ifs. We often remind ourselves that if we had done things differently, life would have been better. We are so wrapped in this idea but it's all a facade.

These thoughts remind me of a movie I saw about four months ago, Look Both Ways. It was different from any romance movie I have ever seen, it was not just cheesy with this swoony aura but it was also thought-provoking and encouraging.

Look Both Ways (2022)

The movie presents two different realities caused by two different choices taken by the protagonist, Natalie. In one of the realities, she chooses to ditch her plans about going to Los Angeles, accept her unplanned pregnancy, and navigate motherhood in her hometown. On the other reality, no pregnancy—she is able to move to Los Angeles, attend college, be a normal adult, graduate and pursue her career.

And funnily enough, at the appointed time, she still got the recognition she deserved from the world in the two realities— though one required the stress of taking care of a baby and the other carries another weight of disappointment that life brings.

No, the moral lesson is not about keeping the baby. Lol.

The moral lesson? Well, let's dive into it.

As humans, we are too quick to set timelines for our life. In the next five years, I should be this. In the next ten years, I will be there. And that's totally fine. But the problem is that we forget so soon that there is a beauty that comes with time. At times, we rush into the big future that we see for ourselves and that only can make us lose everything.

Nowadays, many people are plagued with the problem of 'now' and this has made them not to slow down and take life step-by-step. We rush into things because we want to look far without looking forward.

One thing I adored about the movie was that in the two realities, there is no rush. It follows a particular routine with her choices.

Most humans end up regretting the life they have and thinking that maybe things would have ended up differently if they had taken a different path. We spend days pining for things we could have had but who even knows how all these would have ended? We don't, and just maybe, what if there's an end point we must all meet no matter the path we take? Even I, don't know the answer to this, but it's better to work out things from wherever you are to where you want to be than be stuck at where you could have been. Regret doesn't build, it breaks you.

On our journey of life, we sure are not perfect, therefore, we will certainly make mistakes and take bad decisions, but what matters is getting up. Instead of nursing the what-ifs and catering for regrets, it should rather be a ladder to our self-discovery and better versions of ourselves.

Many may tag this as an unrealistic movie because the main character got her happy ending in the two realities. Funny! Really funny because Happily Ever After exists but it can only come through our actions.

Remember this, Life is funny. It doesn't care about your plans, it can jumble it up in a minute. Life is never smooth, this is no news. But remember to LOOK BOTH WAYS not in regret but with resilience in the pursuit of our dreams.