It’s never a good idea to carry too much regret around, but at the same time, it’s hard to live life without a few regrets.
The r/AskReddit thread, “Which is the decision you regret the most?” has some interesting stories of regret — and just might provide some motivation to live the life you want to be living.
Tough to get your head around.
“Prioritizing family that will never truly see me as one of them because I’m of mixed-race. They could literally give a rat’s ass about me and I’m 31 now and just now coming to terms that it will literally never ever change. It’s a difficult pill to swallow.”
It may have been for the best.
“I surrendered my dog when I was 18. I was extremely mentally ill, had a sketchy living situation and just knew I couldn’t take care of her. It was and still is a no kill shelter, and all I can do is just hope she found a good home but I still cry about it to this day.”
Little by little.
“Ran up way too much credit card debt, it was just little things here and there, then I blinked and I’m 8k in the hole. Feels awful, also have student loans coming soon so I’m just stressed overall about it. Gotta budget super hard now.”
In too deep.
“Going into a PhD program in academic science. It’s a toxic space nationally, I’m not happy with my work and most of my colleagues are disenchanted as well. It’s just shown me how much in need of revamp collegiate education as a whole has to be from tuition to expectations.”
Might have worked, might not have, too.
“Mutually breaking up with the first and only woman I ever loved. She was an exchange student from Mexico, and we decided a long-distance relationship wasn’t feasible.
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“In retrospect, had I been more wise, more mature, and sought help or talked about my fear of commitment, it totally could’ve worked.”
Sometimes things just go south.
“Leaving a job where I was employed by the state that paid my health insurance, came with a great pension, and full retirement benefits after 28 years of service. I’d be within a couple of years of retirement now and I am not quite fifty.
“Did I mention it also helped pay back student loans and was pretty good money with 12 sick days and 12 vacation days a year starting out that increased for every year of service plus comp time that you banked for any overtime and holidays that you worked that rolled over year to year.”
That’s heartbreaking.
“Waiting so long to marry my wife and start our family. We lost our son to brain cancer 2 weeks shy of his 4th birthday. We tried to have another child, but couldn’t.
“I am thankful for our son, as he made me a better man, father and husband, but I will always be heartbroken at how short our time together on this earth was.”
– u/N0TB0B
Follow those dreams.
“Holding back from pursuing music full time because I didn’t think it’d be good enough. I already the progress I’ve made in the last two years if I would’ve been confident years ago I’d be light years ahead of where I’m at.
“I am very happy though that I decided to take the chance!”
When it doesn’t turn out the way you were hoping.
“Having a child. I love my son more then life itself but if I had known that 3 years later my husband would still be sleeping on the sofa and never showing me an ounce of affection or love I may have planned differently.”
Sometimes it’s hard to recognize love.
“Failing to acknowledge love when it was right there in front of me. Also ignoring the personal issues I have that have slowed me down and prevented me from becoming a better man/human.”
Not leaving abusers faster.
“Divorce has been final since last March but I’m still bitter over my personal items being ‘lost’ when I tried to get them back. My guess is his spiteful new girlfriend tossed them out and he’s lying for her.”
Bitcoin, man.
“Did the same in high school when they were 5 bucks a coin. Was looking into mining it and I just figured meh too much effort required.
“Also, was going to just buy it but it seemed too risky. Fml, I could’ve had enough money to start my business sooner.”
It’s never easy.
“My family not going into the room with my dog when he had to be put down. My dad told me it would be too hard to handle and I shouldn’t have listened to him.
“I was the closest to him and I should have been there for his last moments. I let my dad know how much I regretted it and convinced him to go in with his dog years later. He’s glad he did.”
– u/j1ggy
Time to get back on that wagon.
“The decision to start smoking cigarettes. Absolutely the most stupid thing I have ever done with my life.
“Edit: Started when I was 13. I am 38 and sad to say I am still smoking. I did quit on 2 separate occasions for a year each time.”
That’s a pretty penny.
“I owed someone $5 bucks for lunch. I had a scratch off ticket that happened to be a $5 ticket. He scratched it off and won $125k. Never saw a penny of it. Would’ve changed my life at that time.”
You can’t help them if they don’t want to help themselves.
“Watching a childhood friend go into a deep downward spiral of drugs and being too naive to even notice what was going on. Maybe if I opened my eyes and handled the situation differently she would still be alive.”
Choosing a career in healthcare.
“We thought it was hard thennnn pandemic. Arguing with idiots, death threats, morons trying to hurt out staff… let me off this ride. I want to move to some island and serve drinks with tiny straws for the rest of my life.
“I’ve got half a mind to fake my death and run out the country to ditch my college loans.”
No goodbye.
“The last time I left my wife in her hospital room, when she was awake, she was busy with nurses and I needed to go pick up our daughter from daycare.
“So instead of kissing her and giving her a nuzzle goodbye, I waved and said goodbye, expecting that I would be able to talk to her the next day.”
Never too late to start.
“Letting myself be isolated and get really sad and overweight before doing something about it. Only really started living at 32 feels like I wasted a lot of my life.”
“My 30’s have been my favourite decade so far, you haven’t wasted anything! You’re here just in time :)”
This one hurts.
“My older sister texted me asking if I would wanna chat on the phone while she was moving across the country. I was pretty tired from work and told myself I’ll text her In the morning to see how the first part of her drive went.
“She passed away In a car accident that night. I regret not calling my sister.”
