50 people, 1 Question

[spasgur]

I'm too young to really regret anything major. I probably regret my laziness in high school but whatever, I'm in college now anyway so who cares.
There was the one girl who got away but now there's a different one, so again, it worked out anyway.

[Thumpin]

Depending on how you recognize the significance of a regret can influence your present and future decisions, however, they serve no psychological benefit to analyze simply for the sake of inflicting personal anguish. So I think for me at least, it is not a matter of saying I have no regrets, but more a matter of saying I have regrets but I am thankful for who I am today and recognize that my past choices, whether right or wrong, are partly responsible for that.

Sounds like we're saying the same thing, but with a different viewpoint on it. As you say, it comes down to a matter of semantics. You are saying you are saying that you have regrets but are thankful for who you are today and recognize that your past choices, whether right or wrong, are partly responsible for that. My view is that I technically may have regrets but I am thankful for who I am today and recognize that my past choices, whether right or wrong, are partly responsible for that so I really can't call them regrets at all.

I think perhaps regrets (for me) might be better defined as something recent that has happened, where I can't look long term at the positive outcome.

[Cbear]

Yes there are things I regret. Live long enough and you get past the poetic stance of "oh..everything made me who I am so I dont regret it...." Yeah, right, ok. For me? Yup, there are some regrets.

[AngryBill]

If you don't add something later...you could regret it

I regret with being unable to come up with something to regret at the time.

[jmose86]

Sounds like we're saying the same thing, but with a different viewpoint on it. As you say, it comes down to a matter of semantics. You are saying you are saying that you have regrets but are thankful for who you are today and recognize that your past choices, whether right or wrong, are partly responsible for that. My view is that I technically may have regrets but I am thankful for who I am today and recognize that my past choices, whether right or wrong, are partly responsible for that so I really can't call them regrets at all.

I think perhaps regrets (for me) might be better defined as something recent that has happened, where I can't look long term at the positive outcome.

Yea, I think we could come at it from several different ways and say similar things that vary on a person-by-person and case-by-case basis. Everyone has their own interpretation of whether they have regrets, and that is born out of everyone having a different slightly definition of regret.

I tend to approach it from a biological standpoint. Sometimes people will instinctively say they have no regrets when they are a happy point in their lives, because they downplay the significance of the past or just want to hold on to a positive state of well being. There are strange and adverse psychological effects that come along with feelings of regret, which is why often people will say they don't have any or subconsciously don't allow them to be recognized. Pushing away feelings of regret is a defensive mechanism we use to ward off stress and it's associated health risks.

[Thumpin]

Yea, I think we could come at it from several different ways and say similar things that vary on a person-by-person and case-by-case basis. Everyone has their own interpretation of whether they have regrets, and that is born out of everyone having a different slightly definition of regret.

I tend to approach it from a biological standpoint. Sometimes people will instinctively say they have no regrets when they are a happy point in their lives, because they downplay the significance of the past or just want to hold on to a positive state of well being. There are strange and adverse psychological effects that come along with feelings of regret, which is why often people will say they don't have any or subconsciously don't allow them to be recognized. Pushing away feelings of regret is a defensive mechanism we use to ward off stress and it's associated health risks.

Agreed....if I were to point out one of the most scarring and regrettable things in my life, it would be hooking up with my ex and being with her through all the **** she did and put me through, which seriously damaged me for a long time (and I'm sure I still carry some of the scars today). Yet as I said above, I met my wife through her and I have a good life wife 3 great kids (something I never really thought so much about when I was younger), so hooking up with her definitely served a good purpose and I can't really say I regret ever hooking up with her, as if I say that, wouldn't I by inference be saying I regret what came from it? I know! Maybe I should state it like this.... I regret that when my ex and I finally broke it off, and I was happily on my way with my now-wife, and the ex was a speck in my mind's eye, that I never found out that she died in a heinous grease fire, proving that indeed, karma is a bitch.

I regret with being unable to come up with something to regret at the time.

That is truly regrettable.

[wgrapple]

I regret that I watched that video

Just kidding (RTL)

[Heineken23]

One of my regrets was not going to uni after I'd finished school. Well I'm fixing that one now and have started studying teaching this year.

Another one is not asking out a girl I had the bigger crush of all time on in high school. Years afterward I found out she would have gone out with me haha

But my biggest and only real strong regret is not spending more time with my mom before she passed away with cancer. We were estranged for most of my teenage years and early 20's. I guess I was bitter when she tried to reconcile however in light of new info I should have done more. I was the there everyday for her last 3 weeks though and I'm extremely grateful I got that time.

Anyway I also like the lady who wishes she would have started enjoying life earlier. So true.

[TadMcCowski]

I absolutely have regrets. It took me a while to think about it, but once I did it was pretty easy to decide what the greatest one is.

My biggest regret is essentially my entire college career. From choosing the wrong school (one of the top 15 in the country but also one of the most expensive, for which I'm still paying off loans), to choosing two completely worthless disciplines to double major in (Psychology and Communications Studies) simply because I was lazy and undecided, to then staying there for grad school simply because it was easiest and getting my master's in another utterly worthless discipline that lacked any hard skills being learned.

I like to blame it on lacking proper guidance, but it's mostly just because I was too stubborn and a typical know-it-all punk ass. If I could do it all over again I would undoubtedly go for a degree in a STEM (Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics) discipline since I know now that's where my passion is. It's certainly not too late for me to go back to school but it's hard to justify when I'm still paying off debt, especially in this economy.

[split decision]

I tend to approach it from a biological standpoint. Sometimes people will instinctively say they have no regrets when they are a happy point in their lives, because they downplay the significance of the past or just want to hold on to a positive state of well being. There are strange and adverse psychological effects that come along with feelings of regret, which is why often people will say they don't have any or subconsciously don't allow them to be recognized. Pushing away feelings of regret is a defensive mechanism we use to ward off stress and it's associated health risks.

I haven't been sick -- not even a head cold -- in over two years, so I guess it's working for me.

I'm sure I could dig up some regrets -- not leaving one part of the country for another part of the country and a better job sooner, but that's so minor, it's hardly worth mentioning.

By moving with my wife, we left behind family. So not seeing them regularly could be a regret, of sorts, I suppose. However, I have been financially able to assist my parents, who have always lived paycheck to paycheck (and yet they always provided for my sister and me). So there's a trade off. We do see them usually one a year for a few weeks on vacation and talk to them every week or two on the phone, but there's no Sunday dinners or that sort of thing.

When my folks pass away, I'm not going to spend days or weeks or years kicking myself because I wasn't in the neighborhood or across town. I'm going to be grateful for all that they gave me, which I have expressed more than once, and what I have been able to do for them in return.