Life has its ups and downs and no one is made perfect. No matter how good we think we are, we all make mistakes, and some strike a chord more than others, to the point of regret.
People open up and vent about their most profound life regrets. Yes, they can be heartbreaking, but they also serve as lessons to learn from.
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A mother is irreplaceable
A person anonymously shares their sincere regret about not spending enough time with their mother. The mother had cancer which left her sick almost all the time. The person admits that they never spent enough time with her and regrets not spending more time with her.
She died when the person was 20 years old.
A friend’s silent cry for help
A hairdresser tells the story of a friend from elementary school who was in love with their work and became their client when they opened up their salon. The friend had a boyfriend but she broke up with him and started dating another guy.
Turns out he was no good news
A year later, the hairdresser found their friend thin and pale and looked like she was using. The friend kept nodding off her head and was slurring her words, which made the job harder for the hairdresser.
The hairdresser didn’t pry into her issues and eventually, they avoided her, not responding to her texts. They found out that their friend died from an overdose. They regret not responding to her.
The tale of Charlie and the supermarket manager
Back in the early ’90s, a supermarket manager had a man with a horrible stench knock at his door. The manager thought that he was a robber but turns out, he wanted a work application.
The next day, the man came with the application, and turns out, his name was Charlie and he was homeless, which were dealbreakers for the manager.
The manager kept reading and he was shocked
As the manager kept reading Charlie’s application, he was struck by the fact that he was a university graduate and used to work for the BC Lions (the professional Canadian football team). He was cut from the BC Lions after the first month and since then, he had nothing to keep him going and couldn’t navigate life.
His biggest regret was that he didn’t help
At one point, Charlie and the manager became “semi-friends,” until Christmas Eve, when the manager gave Charlie $20 but Charlie refused. After the incident, Charlie was nowhere in sight.
The manager then realized that all that Charlie needed was another chance at life, not pity money. His biggest regret is that he didn’t offer his helping hand as he should have.
Time is of the essence
An anonymous person opened up about how their mother had a stroke which left her paralyzed. The person and their aunt were on their way to visit her when they decided to make a detour and buy sandwiches.
To their shock, the mother passed away 10 minutes before they arrived. Their biggest regret is buying the sandwiches. If they hadn’t made that detour they might have had a chance to say goodbye to her.
Being on the wrong foot with dad
A “daddy’s little girl” shared her deepest regrets about not telling her father that she didn’t call the child abuse hotline on him. She wasn’t aware that he thought that she did until after he passed away.
This misunderstanding led her to be kicked out at 17 with no place to go. Yet, all she can think about is how heartbroken her father must have been, which in turn, has broken hers.
They regret taking care of their family
A person shared how they regret taking care of their family. Their family became a hindrance in the way of their dreams to attend nursing school.
The person felt resentment toward their mother as she decided to do nothing, and they could see other people their age living their lives while the person was stuck with their family.
Abusive relationships can be a roller coaster
The woman in the story regrets that she waited for over a year before she showed her abusive ex the door. She was a psych major but she made the mistake of falling for him hard, so much so that he sexually assaulted her and she rationalized it. Better late than never, though.
A story that should’ve never been told
The narrator’s regret is about a story she wrote in her diary about her kissing a friend she very much crushed on. Unbeknownst to her, her sister stole her diary and read it, and she asked that friend why he kissed her sister.
The friend thought that the narrator was spreading false stories about them, which in turn hurt him and ended up ruining their friendship.
Listening to your father can be a double-edged sword
A woman regrets listening to her father and aiming to please him. Because of this, she married the wrong person. Yes, she loves her husband and has been married to him for 46 years but “not a day has gone by without me thinking of the man I should have married,” she said.
Siblings’ love gone wrong
A sibling shares their profound regret about how they handled things with their sister. The siblings were inseparable but as they grew up, they drifted apart and had a huge fight that left them not speaking to one another for two years.
The crippling weight of the “what if”s
Out of nowhere, the sister called her sibling, but they were too angry to answer. The sibling replied with a harsh text instead and to their surprise, they learned that their sister passed away two weeks later.
Now, the sibling lives with the crushing weight of what they could have done to help their sister, but it is too late, now.
A dad never got to hold his grandson
A mother shares her grave regret about not letting her father see his grandson. COVID came three weeks after she delivered her son and she had PTSD from giving birth, therefore, she isolated herself.
Little did she know that her dad would pass away a year later, with his voicemail talking about his excitement to meet and kiss his grandson haunting her.
