Je ne regrette rien

Kate1949 it still isn't too late to make a decision to skip rather than plod. Or, maybe start with a purposeful walk. Other people can be nasty or loving and a million other things in between, only you can control how you respond to other people and ultimately whether you are happy or sad. You must have learned some serious survival strategies from your difficult childhood - maybe you don't even realise that is what they are - study a counselling course, it is an excellent way of learning about yourself and your own journey and maybe you could go on to help someone else to skip rather than plod?

I regret that I turned down a funded place in an American University because my own Uni would not let the year out count towards my degree. I could have had a very different life.

My main regret which was unavoidable, is not being with my parents when they passed away,this was due to the fact I dont live in the UK. I will regret this for the rest of my life.

I have two regrets. I haven't travelled as much as I would have liked and I haven't had as much wild and raunchy sex as I should have. Still time though!

Just the one, I was ridiculously shy as a small boy and although I was incredibly keen on a girl that I still hold in huge admiration, I was far too self conscious to speak to her. By the time I could, aged 23, she was already married to someone else.

Scribbles that's my regret too.

I regret not sitting down with my late mother and asking for the truth about our family , I was completely devastated by what I found out when I was 59 , I had always thought that something was not right but lacked the courage to ask her.

Yesterday, on Holocaust Memorial Day, I remembered the Polish maths teacher I had at grammar school in 1958.

She had taught children in the Warsaw ghetto, often in cellars, who were desperate to learn during the Nazi terror campaign.
She simply couldn’t understand why we weren’t interested in maths and why we all mocked her frumpy appearance and the large fabric handbag that was always with her.

I regret our cruel ignorance so much, especially after watching The Windermere Children on BBC4 last night.

I regret not listening to that voice in my head telling me not to ho ahead with my wedding. I even told my mother who brushed it aside. After a couple of years I realised why but was too scared to get out of the marriage. It took over 30 Yrs of just getting on with it before I finally got out. If I hadn't married him I would not have my children but in all honesty if I could go back I would run for the hills even if it meant no kids.

A certain amount of feeling "it would have been nice if,," is I think part of the human condition.

I still wish I had been able to have the large family I wanted as a child and looked so confidently forward to, but I don't let it upset me.

Things happen or don't happen - that's life.

I often look back at the way I handled situations in life and wish I had behaved or spoken differently.
After much consideration I decided that life has taught me a lot.
I console myself, and sometimes others, with the thought that I did the best I could with the information I had at the time!

A rather frivolous regret.

On my 16th birthday, my then boyfriend gave me a lovely card. It had a Disneyish cartoon type girl on the front, with huge eyes etc.

Inside he had written in beautiful script, ‘A very happy birthday to my favourite girl, love .....’

We split up some months later, my choice, but I kept the card for years.

My DH saw it in the drawer one day, and asked why I still kept it. I had no feelings for the old boyfriend, and although DH wasn’t bothered, I threw it away.

On my 66th birthday, for some reason that card came to mind. I felt such a longing to see it again and to remember what it was like to be 16, oh so many years ago!

A daft regret I know.

I’m not sure that I told my dad how much I loved him. He died 27 years ago and I miss him every day. I’d give anything for an hour to tell him...

I feel I did my best in everything I did. Some people may not agree, but it was done to the best of my ability at the time. I don't regret any of it. It can't be changed now and I don't have time or energy to live with regrets.

Oh yes so many regrets and I spend my waking nights going over them. I have learnt to temper some of them with understanding better the circumstances that led me to behave in a certain way but I could have looked after myself better (emotionally). Still that's all over now.

I wish I had been kinder and less of a know-all. I wish I'd listened and empathized more; been more thoughtful, had more patience.

Maybe next time....

My regret is staying my controlling, bullying ex husband for so long, hoping that he would change because he kept telling me he would. Now I now will not even give anyone else a chance. I was happy on my own as I had my friends to go out with, but since lockdown and not getting to see them and I've been stuck in the house, I found it very lonely.

I have 3 children, my regret is that I didn’t have a fourth. It’s what we planned, but the third birth was hard, so I made the decision to have no more.
And regret falling out with my oldest son. Who is now estranged. If only I had kept my jealousy to my self.

Yes, two. First: I regret stealing sixpence from my mum when I was sent on an errand. The sixpence was the change and I spent it on sweets and then told mum it had rolled down the drain.
Second: regret not having had more sex!

I try to work on the principle that you only regret the things you didn't do; so try everything (or at least most things) once, if you have the chance. If you don't like it, you never have to do it again. That said, I do regret some harsh words spoken in grief or anger

Yes I have regrets.Too many to mention.
Two of my biggest are the hurt I caused three young men by messing them about in my late teens. It was selfish and thoughtless on my part.

Lucca

Hmm interesting. A couple of thoughts, there’s surely a very fine line between regrets and :
“Unwise decisions”
“Things I would do differently with hindsight”
“ I wish I had”

Semantics ?

Yes, and as sazzl says, things that you are sorry for.

Mostly, I like to think that I have learned from my mistakes, but there are things that I can't undo that I wish I could, and that I wouldn't do again if I could turn back time.

It can be difficult if you are an over-thinker like me, who beats themselves up over things I can't change, but on the other hand I try to remember that none of us is perfect, and it helps me to be less judgemental about others.

Yes only one thing I did at 16 that I have regretted all my life. I did it out of spite for revenge but lived with remorse ever since.

Not having any confidence in myself and my abilities.....still like that now. Not having travelled more when I was physically able.

I regret not asking more about my parents family my dad died when I was 4 so never really knew his family.I wish we had moved away when we married like my oh wanted .