I regret those times when I've chosen the dark side. I've wasted

The words of Jessica Lange—“I regret those times when I’ve chosen the dark side. I’ve wasted enough time not being happy.”—fall upon the soul like a confession and a warning. They are the words of one who has walked through shadow and light, who has known the sweetness of joy yet also the heavy bitterness of sorrow self-inflicted. They speak to the tragic truth that time, the most precious gift of all, is too often squandered on pain we choose, burdens we embrace, and darkness we invite.

To the ancients, nothing was more grievous than wasted time. For wealth can be regained, and power can be restored, but the hours once lived are gone forever. Lange’s words remind us that the choice to dwell in despair, to surrender to bitterness, to cling to the dark side, is not only a wound to the heart but a theft from life itself. Each day lived without happiness is a day that can never be retrieved, a page torn from the book of our existence.

History itself gives witness to this truth. Consider the later years of Leo Tolstoy, the great Russian writer. In his youth, he was consumed by pride, indulgence, and despair. He confessed that he often flirted with the thought of suicide, seeing no meaning in life. Yet when he turned from the darkness toward the pursuit of truth, simplicity, and love, he discovered a sense of peace that had long eluded him. Had he remained imprisoned by despair, the wisdom of his final works, such as The Kingdom of God Is Within You, would never have come to light. His story proves that when one chooses happiness, even after years of sorrow, life can still bear abundant fruit.

Lange’s words are not the denial of pain, but the recognition that pain should not be our chosen dwelling place. Life will always bring its trials, its losses, its wounds—but when we embrace darkness beyond what is necessary, when we choose despair over hope, bitterness over gratitude, we become our own destroyers. To refuse joy is to betray the very purpose of existence. For man was not made to live forever in night; he was made to greet the dawn.

Beloved listener, hear the wisdom: happiness is not the denial of suffering, but the courage to rise from it. It is not found in endless pleasures, but in gratitude, in love, in the quiet choice to see light even in shadow. To live otherwise is to waste time, and time is the fabric of life itself. To waste time not being happy is to allow life to pass uncelebrated, unlived.

What, then, should we do? Look within, and cast out the voices that lure you to despair. Seek out those things, however small, that kindle joy. Give yourself permission to laugh, to rest, to love, to forgive. When hardship comes, do not surrender your soul to it longer than you must. Let your life be a balance, where suffering is faced with courage but happiness is pursued with equal devotion. In this way, you honor both your humanity and your time.

So let Jessica Lange’s words be your guide: do not waste your days in unhappiness. For the sands of time slip swiftly, and none can be reclaimed. Choose the light when darkness tempts you, choose joy when bitterness calls, and choose to live as one who understands that happiness is not a luxury, but a duty owed to the brief and sacred gift of life.