Upside-Down Wisdom #25: Hindsight

“I wish I’d known then what I know now.”

“I wish I’d known then what I know now.”

It sounds wise.
Reflective.
Like a badge of growth.

But listen closely, and you’ll often hear the undertone:
Regret.
Shame.
A quiet belief that if you’d just been more aware—more evolved—you would’ve done it better. Handled it differently. Avoided the fallout.

But here’s the thing:

That’s upside-down.

Because you couldn’t have known then what you know now.
You weren’t supposed to.

We’re all doing the best we can,
given how we’re seeing the world in any moment.

That’s not an excuse.
That’s how human consciousness works.

You didn’t mess up.
You didn’t fall short.
You acted from the level of thought and awareness that was available to you at the time.

You couldn’t have seen it differently until you did.
And once you did—growth happened. Naturally. Automatically.

That’s not failure.
That’s the unfolding of insight.

So maybe the past isn’t asking for your regret.
Maybe it’s just reminding you how far you’ve come.
And how well the system works—even when you don’t see it in the moment.

Here’s today’s Upside-Down Wisdom:
You didn’t mess up. You just hadn’t seen it yet.

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This is Upside-Down Wisdom—a series where we flip the script on the conventional "wisdom" we've been taught. If you would like to read other posts in this series, please visit the Upside-Down Wisdom page.