One consistent sad truth about life is that for just about every person, life is often full of regrets. There are far too many shoulda, coulda, wouldas moments that will haunt many of us until our last breaths. Regret is a hard pill to swallow, but we must never allow it to impede our future. Starting today lets make the goal going forward be that we will make the most of every second and opportunity. And when we feel like we're regressing, we will learn form the past of ourselves and others.
Redditor u/damnthispandemic wanted people to discuss the moments in life they wish they could do over, in hopes the rest of us do better by asking.... What's one thing you deeply regret?The Letdown....
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Was struggling with anxiety and depression, going on auto pilot for a couple months. Wanted to visit with my friend but never had the energy. She died unexpectedly in February. Feel like I let her down. I always try to remind myself of that. Just wish that those days where I was like, "I should pop in on my way home" and then not cuz I was tired.... idk, I think no matter how it worked out I would have felt something wasn't done right. Just part of grief I guess.
be active
Not being an active decision maker in life. Just flowing through time and life like a dead plant.
All the worst case scenarios you've played through in your head aren't nearly as bad as the regret. Plus pretty much none of them play out.
Story of my life too. And then I look at what I've done with my life and I get sad. 31 working a minimum wage job. But at least I have a job.
Love your parents....
Not calling my parents more. I lost both this year and I'd give anything to talk to them one more time. Or hug them both.
I feel this and am sorry. 13 years for me this year and I still miss them every day.
The Cheat...
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Dating my ex.... believing I was his girlfriend while he cheated, for too long.
This was me... crap hurts when you finally realize it and step away.
You will find somebody so much better, and with a name like pizzalover2458 you are probably lots of guys type.
Rest Without Anger
Asked my husband to sleep on the couch that one night. I woke up to find him dead the next morning.
My wife asks me to sleep on the couch every once in awhile when my snoring is out of hand and she has to get up early...
It's not uncommon. I feel the greatest amount of empathy for you, such a simple request between partners that neither of you could have foreseen to have such terrible consequences. I hope you understand that you aren't responsible for what happened.
Jump!
Being too scared to make the leap. Justifying myself back from the edge. Staying safe, where absolutely nothing happens.
I am an amateur musician. Always playing by myself in my bedroom for years. I had a few friends I jammed with but nothing serious at all. Slight performance anxiety kept me from getting out and expressing myself. On a whim I went down to a local amateur jam at a bar, nerves on absolute damn edge.
I was welcomed with open arms, friendly faces with similar lifestyles. Ever since I've been going every other week for a couple years, joined a band that is locally successful, met women, bar owners, pro athletes, hardcore bikers, comedians and all sorts of unique characters. Became a regular and well known. Gave me a purpose that still drives me to this day. Take the leap, man!
Hold On....
When my dad told me he was dying, I was 10. We sat out back and it was the first time he showed emotion. He said "Do you know what cancer is?" To which I responded "Yes" and he began to hug me and cry. As a 10 year old I didn't understand the depth of what he was telling me, now at 34 I deeply regret not hugging him for longer that day.
Forget Him!
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Loving a guy only to find out he had a girlfriend the whole time. I think the regret comes from me letting him screw with my head for much longer than the relationship lasted.
Dude! This happened to my friend! The guy even invited her to his home country to meet his family and as soon as she landed, he told her that they should only act like friends. Her visit lasted a whole two weeks. Two weeks, heartbroken, with a guy and his family and his girlfriend and over a thousand dollars short because she paid for both of their flights. Screw that guy.
Always get Help
Not seeing a psychiatrist sooner. Spent 6 years getting a 4 year degree, and that's with a full course load every semester. Struggled throughout my entire school life. Struggled with talking to people. Thrived online and over text though. The year after graduation, finally sought out help. Turns out I have a learning disability, specifically, auditory processing disorder. Requested reasonable accommodation at work and my production doubled. All I needed was to be able to read what people were telling me.
I've watched more movies in the last 2 years than I have in my whole life, subtitles are a game changer. I'm living in a new world.
If you think movies and shows are impossible to follow, if you walk away from conversations with no idea what was said, if you have bosses constantly repeating directions to you, or if you hate phone calls because they're ineffective, that's not normal! Look into it!!!
Pick up
Not answering my friend's phone call as it was late at night and I had exam the next day. Woke up to the news that she killed herself.
why dont you love me GIF
Finding a Way
Letting my anxiety get in the way of me being happy. Not everyone will like it or use this method. But I am a Christian, and I recently gave my anxiety and life to God I really recommend it, I know not everyone will want to do this, but trust me, it works and it feels amazing.
PUSH HARDER!
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Not trying.
I'm in my mid thirties and only started really giving a crap about myself in the last 5-10 years. Before this I was OK with just drifting.
Now I look back at all the accomplishments I've made over the last few years. I have a good job, people that care about me and some people even look up to me.
Everyday I live my life with pride and a sense that I have more to give but I still have regrets.
I think about what I could have done with my life if I tried harder and pushed myself in my teens or even in my early twenties.
Knowledge Hunt
Not going to school when I should have.
School put such an immense amount of pressure on me to perform well (Was one of the top pupils of the year, so thats why) that I literally broke and became a shell of a human. If I had turned up every day, I honestly would have either had a brutal mental breakdown or killed myself.
Humans vary so much, there is no way anyone can convince me that the schooling route and the way the system works caters to every single person. Theres no way.
I'm Sorry
Being a horrible piece of crap to my old friends. It really screwed me up mentally and emotionally in the end and I'm still dealing with the consequences. If there was one thing I could change in the past, that would be it. I said some unforgivable things and acted like it was their fault.
Nonsense....
Reading that "how do you get over someone?" Thread here from yesterday. I thought I was fine before but that made me spiral pretty hard.
I checked out that thread too, but I just kept seeing the same old "time heals all wounds" nonsense. No. Time does not heal all wounds. There are some wounds that will only heal once you recognize a specific problem, and deal with it.
Some problems require you to go through specific steps and run through a specific path in order to reach a solution
I was still head over heels for my last ex 5 years after we broke up. In 5 whole years, my feelings never diminished. two and a half years were spent with extremely little contact between us, but even then I thought about her every day, and always at my worst.
What finally got me past her was one last conversation. One last time I tried to reach out to her, and she met me with hatred. I realized how broken everything had been, too broken. I realized there was no hope at all. No spark to ignite, no embers to fan. The person I knew and loved was long gone. All that was left was a void, and thats exactly where all of my feelings for her went. No more chest sinking when I think about her, no more heart aches when I hear songs that used to remind me of her. No more pain.
You Gotta Get Friends....
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Not being more social and spending lots of time alone in my room in high school. It's difficult to make friends and break out of your shell later in life, and even your best friends have bigger ambitions than living by you their whole life.
Not sure how old you are, but I think a lot of people become their most social selves in college. In college it's easier to find people with similar interests and quirks as you.
Anyway, I can relate. As I got older and started working, I didn't make an effort to be social after work and on weekends and found myself alone a lot. It's hard!
Toxic Shock
Being the toxic one in the friendship when I was keeping myself convinced I was the victim.
This is literally me! I kept complaining to my other friends saying that I was the victim, I was in a toxic relationship. I kept spreading shit about this friend that I called "toxic". Years later I've realized how toxic I really was :( so I feel ya.
Relax. Breathe.
Constant worrying.
Either I worried about something and it didn't happen, so I was choosing misery over literally nothing... or it did happen and I just found a way through it.
Maybe I dealt with it, maybe it worked itself out, maybe somebody helped me out... but it was never once improved by me worrying in advance.
Release the Baggage....
I only have one regret.
I didn't have time to reconcile with my sister before she passed of cancer. Literally got there a few days late, she was induced into a coma and I watched her fade away over a few days.
She was not a good person growing up: lied, cheat, steal, drug addiction etc... and I carried a lot of issues as I got older but I wish I could have just had a conversation with her before everything went south. She made numerous attempts when she was diagnosed to mend our relationship but I just wouldn't have any of it.
Thats on me and I've carried that baggage for a long time.
Focus on You
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Caring too much about what people think of me.
I feel this one.
3 of Us....
I wasn't a very nice older brother when me and my two younger brothers where younger. I almost killed them a couple of times just over stupid crap. But when you're 12 and a few inches taller then your brother it's too easy to just manhandle them.
We have a great relationship now all three of us call and play games at least once a week but I don't know if it'll ever be enough to undo the harm I've caused them.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
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I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
Black Friday Nbc GIF by SuperstoreGiphy"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
sushi GIFGiphy"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
Janet Jackson Reaction GIFGiphy"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
Season 5 Friends Tv Show GIF by FriendsGiphy"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
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I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
Role Playing Reaction GIF by Hyper RPGGiphy"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
Happy GIFGiphy"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
Bored Episode 15 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphy"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
Circle Of Life Loop GIFGiphy"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
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I feel like this article can go on forever. Let's get some highlights.
Wasted Time
Nbc Im Done GIF by SuperstoreGiphy"Meetings that could and should have been an email."
Sirena609
Lotto People
"Getting stuck behind people playing the lottery at a corner store."
thenuggetlover
"I also used to work in a gas station and you’re SO right. I f**king hated the lottery people. Especially since my store had a small staff and there was usually only one of us working at a time, which meant that I couldn’t get any of my other work done as long as they were there."
"And you’re right, it’s also pretty sad to watch. I had one lady who used to come in every day and spent hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars on scratch tickets. One day, she won $200 after spending probably around $600 and she was so excited and saying she can 'finally pay her bills.'"
i-am-your-god-now
Aware...
"No situational awareness. Job, home, shopping, driving. Think for one minute and go about. OBSERVE!!"
Dizzy-Foundation8122
"My mom is one of those people who leave the shopping cart in the middle of the damn aisle and proceed to walk twenty feet away. After correcting her a million times to no effect I just walk away now so people don’t know I’m with her."
OutrageousEvent
Shut Up!
"Endless barking in the middle of the night, I love animals but that sh*t I can't stand."
Acceptable-Lemon2924
"Endless barking in general drives me up a wall. One of my friends dogs was barking almost an entire gaming session the other day. I wanted to reach through the computer and smack him for letting it go on."
bangersnmash13
Kindness
customer service waiter GIFGiphy"People being mean to service workers, especially if the workers are very young."'
scaryboilednoodles
All of these things. I hate them all.
Admit It
Admit It Tell The Truth GIF by TV LandGiphy"People who never accept fault when they mess something up. Like, why blame a million people when it was clearly you who did it???"
Quirky-Area-8978
From Above
"My upstairs neighbors."
lutzow89
"I had terrible neighbors at my previous apartment. It was a one person studio for students, but her boyfriend was clearly living with her illegally and he was loud."
"One night we knocked n the door at 3 AM because of the loud music and an unknown girl opened the door. I just thought they were having a little party. But the next door I saw the girl living there come home with a suitcase after having been away for the weekend... Her BF was cheating on her in her own apartment."
Th3_Accountant
Move Away
"People who sit directly next to me at the airport, movie theater, any other place where you can choose a seat when there is PLENTY of other seating."
BacardiPardy33
"I can’t YES this enough and the ones who can’t park for crap so they park so close you can’t open doors on one side of the car or the ones who park directly behind when you pulled through so the door won’t open to load groceries."
BacardiPardy33
It's Over
"People who try to restart old drama. Like I'm done with you, just leave me alone."
Tired_Potatos
"Yep, half the reason I've basically quit playing one of my favorite online video games. People keep bringing old crap up or sh*tting on on someone who used to be our friend. I got tired of it so I just ejected the game out of me."
CaucasianHumus
AHHHHH!!!
move leading GIFGiphy"People walking too slow in front of me with no way to get around them. It’s even worse if it’s a couple or group taking up the whole sidewalk. HAVE SOME SPATIAL AWARENESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!"
_-v0x-_
Life in general pisses me off. I'm easy.
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