Self-inflicted guilt

[lph]

Hmm... is some of this really just sadness at letting go of a hope or an idea? Because that's the downside of making a decision. You can no longer entertain all those lovely possibilities, all at the same time, of how this, that or the other could be.

I dunno. If you're a conscientious person who gets excited about and emotionally involved in things I think it sort of comes with the territory. Maybe it helps if you focus on how it really isn't possible to do two contradictory things at once, and having chosen one, you have to go for it even it makes you feel sad to leave the other one behind. Another point is that re-assessing old decisions about how you want to spend your time is a good and mature thing to do, it's not "giving up". Somehow the situation has changed since you made the initial decision, and you've changed with it. If you feel guilty you're feeling guilty about changing a decision that "a different you" made under different circumstances. To exaggerate my point: I'm sure you don't feel guilty about not following through on ideas you held as a teenager.

Interesting topic! And yeah, I've done it too