I've done things I regret. A few years ago I may have still felt embarrassed/bad/self loathing about it. Now I can look back and think, we'll that's who I was then and those are the choices I made. I lived with the consequences, but, more importantly, I did something about it. Sooner or later, I left that relationship, job, friendship. Physically or emotionally or both. Even when I thought I wouldn't survive, that I'd never have another job or relationship or whatever. At some stage, I stood up for myself or someone else and said no, this is wrong. And made a change.
Yep. and Yep. Try to turn that regret into a positive, it has set you on this path, one that includes awakening and realisation. Dude, seriously, some people go through an entire lifetime without the chance to ponder or process their regret and to me, that is far worse than finding yourself in a situation now, where there is a chance to make a positive change from a decision made long ago. I guess this is what learning and growing is all about. and it certainly doesnt stop once we get through puberty or graduate from school etc!...learning is life-long. it's what we ultimately choose to do with it that really matters