With the new information that I have now, there…
With the new information that I have now, there are many things that I regret. I regret the way I dealt with my parents. I did not give them the proper respect or love. I regret the way I dealt with my children. A better question would be how would I do it differently? Living life is an extremely complicated process of moving an infinite number of levers up and down to calibrate them to reach a level of perfection for yourself and for the world and people around you. Many times those lovers are pushed and pulled by other people. IMPORTANT
— from The Heart in the Cockpit (Emotion/Awe/Anxiety/Regret/Empathy)
In the book
And when you have wronged someone, apologize cleanly: say "I am sorry for what I did," not the coward's "I am sorry for the way you feel". [Here is the place for my own confession — write in, or let me tell you across the table, the decisions I would make differently if I had them again, and what I learned from carrying them.] I will only say this much here, in my own words, because you should hear that your grandfather is not above this storm: with the information I have now, there are things I regret — the way I dealt with my own parents, the way I dealt with my children. Living a life is the endless work of moving an infinite number of levers up and down, trying to calibrate them toward something good for yourself and for the people around you, and many of those levers get pushed and pulled by other hands. […] [Here is the place for my own confession — write in, or let me tell you across the table, the decisions I would make differently if I had them again, and what I learned from carrying them.] I will only say this much here, in my own words, because you should hear that your grandfather is not above this storm: with the information I have now, there are things I regret — the way I dealt with my own parents, the way I dealt with my children. Living a life is the endless work of moving an infinite number of levers up and down, trying to calibrate them toward something good for yourself and for the people around you, and many of those levers get pushed and pulled by other hands. I do not tell you this to wallow. — The Heart in the Cockpit (Emotion/Awe/Anxiety/Regret/Empathy)