Counterfactual Thinking

You can't change the past.

Yesterday I learned about something

It’s called counterfactual thinking

It happens when we dwell on what's past

About how things could have gone differently

 

If only we could change one small detail

Just make a few little tweaks

We could have accomplished our dreams

We could have had everything

 

Well I’ve been doing it every day

Of my life for the past six years

The closer we get to attaining what we want

The more it hurts to lose it

 

But I’m not going anywhere

Walking around in circles

I’m trapped in a vicious cycle

Of what could have been

I've imagined every other ending

I've beaten myself up again

There must be some way to escape

This counterfactual thinking

I know I just have to let it go

Blaming myself isn't working

It doesn't matter what my mind conjures

It won't ever be a reality

I could have taken it slower

You could have chosen to stay

But instead you walked away

And I'm forever stuck on replay

This counterfactual thinking

Is a parasite that's eating me alive

I'll drive myself completely mad

Obsessing over the past

Today I realized I had another option

To stop tormenting myself

What could have been is irrelevant

Because everything has a reason