It's impossible to say. I regret some decisions I've made--mainly chances I didn't take--that I theorize might have improved my life (probably wishful thinking), but for all I know maybe things would have come out worse. Butterfly effect and everything. I mean.. I live in a house, I have all the food and gadgets I need or event want, I'm in good health, my loved ones are still alive, etc. Things could be worse.

The things I was so close to getting, I wanted/needed so badly that I literally can't imagine how getting them would have affected me, even though they weren't particularly enabling things, just experiences.

When I make a bad decision I often find myself imagining what would have happened if I'd choses otherwise and it usually leads me to a conclusion where making the better decision ultimately wouldn't have helped me anyway. Maybe it's just convenient thinking, but it's like I'm magnetically attracted to those lines of thought and they give me comfort.