silentridge said:They’ve been following me my entire life, honestly. But if I’m being real, those stumbles taught me more than anything else, and I do my absolute best to ensure I don't trip over the same stone twice. Those errors—they shaped me into the person I am today, though... well, that doesn't mean I don't wish I could have avoided them altogether. It isn't just about my own skin, either; so many of those choices ended up affecting the people closest to me, too. That’s where the real regret hits home. But there’s no turning back the clock. All you can do is keep moving forward, hopefully a little wiser and a lot more careful than before.
I agree. Though, I also think those people close to us ended up "profiting" on a spiritual level in their own way. Most of us learn best through direct experience, but we pick things up just by being in the orbit of others—close enough to feel it, but far enough to observe.