TommyGunn said:
The experience helped me to realize that I'm not as mature a person as I hoped I was, and I want to fix that about myself this coming year. I've realized I've been wandering through life, not without goals, but without the motivation to reach them. I don't want to be like this anymore. I don't want to go through life, sad at the way things are, but refusing to face my problems just because I've come to accept them as "who I am". I want to change, I want to be better.
And you are doing better TommyGunn, all of us made stupid decisions in our youth, maturity and wisdom only comes with growing older, and the fact that you're regretting past decisions is a sign of your coming of age.

Don't beat yourself up my friend, God I wish I had a dollar for every stupid thing I did in the past, but I realized the past is the past, we were all were dumb fucks at some stage in our lives, and like us all, we came to regret it, that is your revelation and shows that you are acquiring wisdom and growing as a person. Just learn from it, don't feel bad and think you need to ponder endlessly on your past errors.

Don't be ruled by guilt, move on, sure it's good to reflect, but not if it drives you to despair. Every day you wake up as a new person and you should be proud of yourself for recognizing your past mistakes, that, in my eyes makes you a genuine nice person and a real human being.