The Mirror of Regret
— Shadows of the Past
Regret is not a fleeting guest; it is the uninvited architect of our inner ruins. It builds walls from the bricks of what-could-have-beens, mortared with the tears of missed chances. Every glance into its mirror reveals not just the face we wear, but the ghosts we buried—whispers of decisions that echo louder than any triumph. I have stood before this mirror too long, tracing the cracks where my youth slipped away, where promises turned to ash.
The past does not fade; it festers. Those moments we thought buried rise like specters in the quiet hours, their eyes accusing, their hands outstretched for what we withheld. A word unsaid to a loved one, a dream abandoned for the safety of routine, a risk evaded in fear's grip—these are the shadows that lengthen with time. They cling to the present, tinting joys with doubt, turning laughter hollow. "Why did I not?" becomes the rhythm of sleepless nights, a dirge sung by the heart's unrelenting judge.
I remember the crossroads: the job forsaken for stability's lie, the love rejected in pride's arrogance, the passion silenced by society's script. Each choice, rational then, now gleams with regret's cruel polish—opportunities glittering like lost jewels in the dust. We convince ourselves the path taken was right, but the mirror betrays us. It shows alternate lives, vibrant and unscarred, mocking the barren road we tread. Regret is the thief of peace, stealing tomorrows to pay for yesterday's debts.
Yet, in this reflection lies a bitter wisdom. The shadows teach that regret is not punishment, but a forge. They hammer the soul, burning away illusions of control, revealing the fragility of our narratives. We cannot rewrite the past, but we can shatter the mirror's tyranny—acknowledge the wounds, forgive the wanderer within. Holding on tightens the chains; release loosens them. The past's ghosts fade not in denial, but in integration: lessons etched into scars, turning pain into quiet strength.
Reader, your mirror awaits. Do not avert your eyes. Stare into the shadows they cast, for they are maps to the self you still can become. Regret's weight bows us, but lifting it—through confession, through change—lifts us higher. The past is not a prison if we choose to walk beyond its bars. In that choice lies redemption: not erasing the shadows, but learning to dance in their dim light.
@themerlin
Thank you for sharing.
Very wise words 💕💜
Powerful words about leaving regrets where they belong, they serve no purpose 🥰
Thanks a lot for your review and time you took for reading what I was feeling and your reply make me realize I am not alone
@themerlin
A pleasure 💜
@themerlin I don't understand this fully right now, but thank you for sharing ❤️ Sending you lots of love and *hugs* 🐾💕
It's my pleasure and thank a lot for appreciation
@themerlin ❤️❤️❤️
If you interested in full book reading let me know
@themerlin I'm interested, which book is it?
It's a book i write down as my first book writing. Name is the silent mad man by saqlain taswar
❤️❤️
Introduction
This is the state of a room inside my chest.
On these pages are the count of my breaths.
I did not write this to prove I was a good writer.
I wrote it because the noise inside me was killing me.
If you are reading this book, know this —
You are not alone.
The silent madman was not just me;it is you, it is all of us.
Silent Madman is my introduction, not a spectacle.
I had suppressed my screams for years.
Laughter on the face,burning inside.
The void,the chains, the regret — it all kept filling me up.
This book is not a solution, nor is it a sermon.
This is a mirror— look into it and see.
This is my journey:from the void to the darkness, from the darkness to the first light.
The world asked me for peace,but inside I was a storm.
This book is the account of that storm.
Prologue
Some nights change everything.
Those nights when silence becomes a dagger.
When the winds sharpen and attack the doors.
When the void becomes a snake and starts to strangle.
This book is the product of those nights.
I kept screaming in a way that no one could understand.
Showing peace to the outside,while a storm raged within.
When you touch these pages,touch only the truth — the truth of wounds.
Prelude
If you turn these pages, know this:
This is not just a story;it is the lament of a mind that has gone through it.
There will be darkness,there will be void, but in between, there will also be sparks.
These pages are not soft; they are rough.
These are not the poems of a symposium;these are naked breaths.
What is written here is not a game of polished words.
This is the collected residue of the screams that language could not contain.
This book is for all those who have a storm within their silence.
It is for those who seek light but live in darkness.
This book is a mo
ment— touch it and see, touch it and recognize.
I appreciate you, thank you 🤍
Here is my full book link https://push.fm/pl/kbpb49jy
@themerlin Regret's have been haunting me for a while now and i did not know how to cope with that. Whenever I try to work, whenever i get stuck doing work the regret comes. Regret of what i could've done, but didn't. I always saw it as a burden.voices of me preventing me from doing the best in the present moment. But maybe if i see it as a strength, don't avoid them and accept the present self of me, 'I might be able to grow. Past is not a prison if we choose to walk beyond it's doors' made me think twice on how i interact with the regrets and memories.
Thanks for posting !
@chillmoon I’m really moved by what you wrote. You already began the most important part — seeing regret not as a burden, but as a teacher. Once we stop fighting those voices and start listening, they lose their power to hurt and begin to guide us.
I’m grateful my words reached you that way. You’re not alone on that path — every step of awareness is already growth.
This speaks many volumes, of lots of wisdom, how we chose to look at our past, our mistakes, our regrets, maybe the path we should have chosen. It can either teach us and we learn from our past, or we continue on with the burden of our past the chains on our ankles holding us, making us continually look at our past decisions. We have the opportunity of redemption, of looking back and not fixing our past but not continuing to make the same mistakes.
I'm personally trying to forgive and learn from my past. Sometimes I close my eyes and I see all the decisions I've made, maybe what I should have done differently, maybe listening to someone I loved trying to help, save me. I denied them and denied my inner guy feelings, the roads I've gone down that led me to hard times and hurt feelings. I am trying to reflect on those memories and circumstances and forgive myself because our mistakes from the past are lessons that we can learn from.
Thank you very kindly, I'd love to talk to you some time if that is possible.
@crimsonRaspberries1486 Your words carry the ache of awareness — the kind that only comes when someone has truly faced themselves. 🌙
Forgiving oneself is one of the hardest pilgrimages the soul can take. You’re already walking that road, even if it trembles beneath your feet. Every time you revisit those memories with compassion instead of blame, you reclaim a piece of yourself that regret once held hostage.
You’re right — we can’t fix the past, but we can redeem it by refusing to repeat its patterns. That’s how the wound turns into wisdom.
And yes, I’d be glad to talk — meaningful conversations like this remind me why I write at all. 🌿
A soul of lifetimes, a soul that has seen many things, felt many things, heard numerous things, been hurt. Going down the road of forgiveness towards myself is the most difficult things one can go through. The ball of chains on my ankles and my wrists, the ache of my heart to feel the emotions of my past, my mistakes, all the wrong doings from everyone in my past, the wrong doings of myself. Oh how I should have listened, done, heard, stood up to.
But all I can do is cry, wipe my tears away stand up and continue to learn from all my doings and others doings. All I can do is try my best to do what's right. We all have to make tough decisions in any life, one of the main ones is to look back and learn and grow. 🌱 We can forgive other and ourself but we can never ever forget, that's no burden if you look into your life in the right view.
We can still carry all the emotions and turmoil just not the guilt, that's where many of us get stuck. I'm working so hard to go through this with the correct mindset, it's a trick, what a windy road to be on, to try to face our lifetimes, past decisions, are debtors, what a beautiful but scary road. 💖
It sometimes scares me when I close my eyes, to look back and not take all the blame. When I was a child I was sodomized for two decades, brain washed, drugged. I used to take all the blame when I finally had realized what all had happened. I blamed myself so much that I suppose it made me sick, I made myself very ill in many ways. I look back at it with a different pair of eyes, with a different mind frame, with a different perspective. I've forgiven myself for it wasnt my fault. I was only a child, only a teen, only a young woman, no this wasn't my doing.
I have forgiven myself for going through that, a soul can heal from such traumatic events if you let it by giving your soul the right amount of love, trust, respect, and healing. I still am learning through this lifetime, it's quite lovely when you let God, the universe, and karama do it's job and not interfere.💐
@crimsonRaspberries1486 Your words carry a depth that silences everything around them. 🌙
I am completely honored to be speaking with you, you bring up these valid points. 💗 The woman in me is healing the scared child yes. It's some scary work to do it's very painful, but very meaningful, very messy but very beautiful. ❤️
I couldn't give my self the gratitude but I can say in all honesty that through my pains, sorrows, traumas I heal others using my painful memory, that heals a sort of me. ❤️🔥
You see I was "raised" in a colt I was adopted into the dark 🌑 but I choose to be the light 🕯️ I chose to be good, to do good, to be the best I can be. To be brought into pain, you have two choices, to either except it and hurt others because you've been engulfed into the blindness of rage. Or you can chose to put the pain to use, be the light, be the light in all the darkness, to not hold all the sorrow close to your heart but to use the sorrow as a tool.
The way a community such as this platform can connect together through various types of pain is a beautiful harmonious thing, almost sacred. We all have it in us.💛
You're writing is absolutely incredible, I am loving our conversation, your perspective is bringing a New perspective for me in a way you are opening my eyes more than what they were. You have a true gift 😊🙏🏼
@crimsonRaspberries1486 Your words… they reached straight into that quiet part of me where I keep my own trembling child. 🌙