Mistakes

​How do you view your past mistakes? Do you regret making them? Do you look at them as lessons learned and think they make you part of who you are today? Do you still beat yourself up and feel a lot of guilt over your mistakes?
For me, I’d say it is a mix of things. I struggle with guilt over past things I’ve said or done. But then I also look at them as a way of making me who I am today. One example of this is my first marriage. Looking back, I see that there were lots of red flags that I should have seen and not ever got married in the first place. But then I think about my life today. If I hadn’t been married that first time, I would not have my two oldest children. I might not have ended up in Enid managing a Wendy’s, so I might not have ever met Tom and got to spend the next almost 29 years with him and I would not have my youngest daughter. I know without Tom’s encouragement and support; I would not have gone back to school and got my degrees and I don’t think I would have the strength and the confidence I have now. So how can I regret that mistake? Maybe I shouldn’t even call it a mistake; maybe it was just a step in my path to the person I am today.
So today I am just curious how other people look at their past mistakes. Let me know in the comments or through e-mail.