Here's an interesting little piece...

...by Andrew Sullivan that doesn't have anything to do with politics (honest!). It's about regrets, and the money quotes are (his emphasis):

I think at some point you understand that this is the life you have, a consequence of countless tiny decisions that didn't even seem like decisions at the time.

And:

And this is life. It is an adventure, not a plan. Regrets are the flip-side of freedom. I'd rather have both than neither.