Regret comes when we wish to do something but for some reason, we did not do it and thereafter regret for not doing it. We often hear people say things like "Had I done this.......then I would.........."or "If only I knew, then......" It is as if the person wish to have some form of certainty before committing himself to do it. It could be fear, lack of commitment, etc.
A common example would be you had a casual conversation with friends about your new business idea. They thought it was crap and lack depth. You took their words hard but did not do much about it. 6 months later, you saw your business idea being implemented. You are likely to regret not spending more time and resource to get it started now that you see the success of your idea being crystallised.
Discipline could means the person did go ahead to do the task, say do a 2km run to lose weight but gave up a week later and binge on more junk food. Somehow, he knew had he persisted, there is a good chance that he might achieve his weight goals but ........
The word "pain" somehow conjures an image of physical pain like sweating profusely, muscle aches and stiffness while exercising. However, the pain of not having what we want, the longing for the thing we want - in the mental sense could be more painful than the physical one. Have you long to see your loved ones and family or being away from your kids for weeks?
To avoid pain, people choose to day dream, talk about it but may not want to get into the action part or make their hands dirty, so to speak. By doing that, they thought they are safe and protected in some way. Yes, they do for a short while of not being stressed out solving the problem on hand but they also missed a greater lesson behind it. Each and every one of us has to go through our own life experiences and no one can do it for us. We can both run 2km but the pain you suffered could be 10x more than mine, depending on your perception of the whole matter. As a father of two young kids, I need to be mindful not to be overly concerned about academic grades for my kids, expecting full marks all the time and that he knows the answers that the teachers want. Failure to do that does not mean anything, in fact it is a great opportunity for him to learn and accept that it is all a part of learning. It is better for him to fail now during his school years than to grow in a protected environment and become a "softie" when he gets into the working world.
So, brace ourselves and see a bigger picture, the one that God has in mind for us. Each path that we are in, be it relationship, health or financial, there lies a lesson that we can take away from if we care to look deep into it.
Had I not had my shoulder injury, I would not appreciate the importance of doing 1 chin-up at a time, accumulating slowly but surely over time. Each increment is more than a testimony of my improvement but also it lifted up my confidence.
With confidence, we can then take on the challenges that come our way and not fear that we will be shattered. Live a life of no regrets but one with passion and pursue it relentlessly with discipline.