When we think of our biggest regrets, love tops the list, followed by regrets about family, education and career. What have you done in your past that you wish you’d have done differently? Do you have many regrets or wishes for “do overs?”
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Us Girls..Our Views 
I have only one real regret, and that’s something I can’t really share.
As a general rule, I don’t waste energy regretting things. I just try to do better next time. I figure, even if I made a mistake, it’s a learning experience or character builder or something.
I have a few big regrets… not that I want to be specific…. but when I think that I might want a “do over” with them, I always think that line out, and consider what a “do over” would REALLY mean. It might mean that I didn’t live here, which would eliminate some very special friendships. Or it might mean that I didn’t have Josh, or my dog, or something else that I cherish. There are too many consequences for “do over’s”. But yeah, I do have some regrets. I try not to dwell too hard on them though, otherwise I start getting depressed. I keep reminding myself that it’s those regrets, combined with the triumphs, that makes me who I am.
Laura seems to be in my head, her words are so close to what I would have written. I have more regrets in life than I care to share. I could certainly do without some of them though. I made some really bad decisions through out my life. I used to let them define me as a person, and it took me just growing up to figure out that I’m not the same person I was years ago. Every major regret has burned a place in my brain, the difference is now I use it as a reminder of how life was. How my life could have ended up, had I not made the very few good choices I have in life.
Of course I have regrets, but like everyone else, I don’t want to share. They are mine and mine alone and you can’t change the past so why dwell on it.
I am the do-over king. I’d go back to preschool (maybe earlier), of course my do-over comes with the understanding that I take what I know now back with me. I’d learn more. I’d be more outspoken. I would have married my sweet, loving angel of a wife sooner. I would have spent less and saved more. I would have aimed for being content instead of chasing after the elusive “happy”. I would have taken better care of my teeth and eaten healthier (vegan!). I would have treated people better including myself as a result. I would have stayed physically active. I would have learned to enjoy less and love more.
Unfortunately it’s a bit late for all of that, but not too late. I’ve still got plenty of life ahead of me; it’s just all up hill now. 😉
I often times hear the saying “live without regret” and it irks me, because I believe most people hear it as “don’t regret the things you’ve done or that you have yet to do”. I like to think the true meaning behind this saying would be something more along the line of “don’t do things you’re going to regret”. With that being said, I didn’t learn this lesson soon enough (as is pretty much always the case with everyone), so up hill I go with this as well.
I’ve only had one really bad regret that has drug me down over the years (20+) and it was just in recent months that I’ve learned to live with it. The key to that was forgiveness; first from the one I wronged, and then (strangely even more importantly) forgiveness of myself.
This may seem obvious to some, but forgiveness has always been far out of reach for me. Until recently I never had it and assumed I never would. The key to forgiveness it turns out is understanding. Nope, I didn’t have that either; only hate and anger. For most things there is forgiveness, and for everything else there is at least understanding. Now that you have the key you have to find your own door. 🙂
Yes, of course, there are always some regrets. I’m not sharing mine here either. i agree with Laura when she says that a “do-over” might result in the the loss of something or someone very special to us, so I’m not a do-over sort of person. I’m more of a “learn the lesson and move along” personality.
I’ve had a hard time with this one. Of course I’ve had regrets but like others have mentioned, to regret something and want to go back and “do over,” it would mean I’d lose something that I have and love. So, without give up anything, one of my biggest regrets is I didn’t have an education. I wish so bad sometimes that I was “taught” something.
And yes, there are also those regrets that one only thinks about and can’t share.
That’s one of my biggest regrets too. I’m going through a hard time right now with stuff. I’ve been looking for jobs-I feel like I don’t do enough with my life.
That’s how I feel a lot too Nikki. I just sometimes want to do “something.”