Book Challenge | Inspiration

My Life Was Full of Regret Till I Read This Book

Based on #2021/22 Book Challenge in The Summit Publication

If anyone asked me this question a few months ago, “What will you change in your past if you are gifted with a time machine?” I would have an endless list. I was always used to self-blame for the mistakes that happened in my life, whether intentionally or unintentionally. I always blamed myself for not making the right decisions in my life, even small ones. So, if I faced any difficulties, I always regretted what I chose.

Yet, I realized that life is not what I thought. Nothing in this universe is a mistake. We are always stuck in the egoic “I” where we always separate our individuality through an identity. All of us are connected in some way. The mistake we might have made before might be a great blessing for another person. So, there is nothing to regret about. We have all heard about the Butterfly Effect, where every action that we take may lead to something different, and they are interconnected with everything in this universe.

I realized that we don’t have to fall into the trap of guilt and self-blame from the book called “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig.

Some of you may have heard of or read this book as it is a bestseller. This book is about Nora, who tried to commit suicide as her life was full of regret. Soon after she committed suicide, she found that she was in another realm, which was a library, where the librarian, Mrs Elm, gave her a chance to undo her regrets so that she could try to live every life that she wished.

Yet, in every life, she found that she was not happy, even though she tried to undo her regrets. She wished to live a life where she would marry the person she broke up with before, but still was unhappy. Then, she wished to travel to Australia with her close friend, but in her real life, she couldn’t. So, she went to see in her other life what would happen if she travelled with her friend to Australia. It turned out that if she travelled to Australia with her friend, her close friend might die.

I don’t want to be a spoiler of this book, but there are more lives she tried to live, and she realised that if she undid her regret, she wouldn’t live a happy life either. This book shares her experiences through undoing her regrets by trying to live a multitude of other lives.

What have I learnt from this great book? I don’t have to regret my previous deeds as every action I took carved me into a better person. Previously, I was a person who was too anxious and didn’t take a break from my life to chase goals and ambitions. I neglected self-care. I always used to make decisions quickly without giving myself any time for contemplation. These actions caused me problems. But now, I have learnt a great lesson: I have to be more patient, vigilant and calmer when it comes to making decisions.

If the past was not a mistake, I wouldn’t have learned a great lesson. So, there’s nothing to regret. We ourselves are the great teachers of our lives.

Craving for what you want in your life is like craving for what you lack. When you don’t get what you want, you will unconsciously start to regret the life you chose. But, when you accept the actions that you did before, you will accept the life you are experiencing now, and life will become a beautiful journey for you to travel on a wonderful path.

Mrs Elm studied Nora hard, as if reading a passage in a book she had read before but has just found it contained a new meaning. ‘Want’, she told her, in a measured tone, ‘is an interesting word. It means lack. Sometimes if we fill that lack with something else the original want disappears entirely. Maybe you have a lack problem rather than a want problem. Maybe there is a life that you really want to live.’ ~ pg 62 of The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

I wish a Merry Christmas to my lovely friends on Medium, Sahil Patel, Ali, Sujona Chatterjee, Dr. Preeti Singh, Suma Narayan, Shameem Anwar, J Oliver Dempsey, Kris Bedenian, Neera Handa Dr, Joseph Lieungh, Brown Boi, Sorina Raluca Băbău, A.H. Mehr, Arbab Z., Monoreena Acharjee Majumdar, Ravyne Hawke, Donnette Anglin and many more. Leave your regrets behind and let us celebrate this beautiful celebration together! No more regrets. You are already doing great! That’s why you are here. Cheers!

For those who wish to participate as a writer in The Summit Publication, check out the guidelines below:

For those who wish to join me for the 2021/22 book challenge, here is the guideline. Let us share wisdom together.