Retrospection – And the Fear of Regret

At the end of the day
At the end of a life
How many of us
Simply want to be able to feel
That we’ve done OK
That we’ve not done
Anything terribly wrong
That we’ve made the best of what
We were given
.
And I wonder
How many of us
Simply don’t
Actually feel that way?
.
So, what’s wrong with that?
I ask you
Is it too much
To hope for?
.
Is it something inborn
Or is it something we learn
From our social context
.
I feel quite sure
From my studies of life in the wild
That it’s the latter that makes us fear
Regretting our past
Only to end up
Doing just that
.
As if we could or should
Have known at the time
What the consequences of our actions and inactions
Would be
.
A story we’ve been told
And keep telling ourselves
Through endless regenerations
Which has at its root
An assumption
That any with gumption
Would know is false
Setting time and space
Apart from each other and us
In a world of mechanical causation
Which overlooks
The nature in human
And the human in nature
Which makes us alive
Not digital processors
Artificially intelligent
Emotionally bereft