> it's a waste of mental energy to drag yourself down based on events that happened in the past I completely agree. But I'm trying to make the distinction bet

> it's a waste of mental energy to drag yourself down based on events that happened in the past I completely agree. But I'm trying to make the distinction between "don't obtain debt" and "don't pay debt". > if something was a mistake in hindsight, you can avoid those mistakes in the future There's a word for the process of concluding that something was a mistake: regret. I think the difference in understanding comes from what we put into the word. Regret is a word loaded with emotion. If the purpose is to say "don't beat yourself up endlessly", I 100% agree. But beat yourself up a little and let go. :-) Preventing mistakes requires regretting them.