Do you have any regrets? What's your biggest regret in life?

hawkdon said:
My regret has to do with my brain I guess...regret that I'm
"different" than others...Not crazy, just have different outlook
on what life is and is not, and not always in agreement with others......oh well....
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Don't regret your brain, man.

My son was born with a different kind of brain - this was back in the 70s before doctors diagnosed ADD and ADHD and all that, and they started giving kids drugs to "manage" the symptoms. So anyway, the schools and doctors wanted to run tests and stuff to find out how he ticked, and I was all "You can look but don't touch" about it. I promised myself I'd protect his brain. In fact, I started feeding it; giving him tons of Legos and science kits, and chunks of wood and metal and some tools...just anything he could tinker with and focus that wonderful little brain on. And he built stuff all day long. Weird shit that actually performed some sort of useless but fascinating function.

He grew up and entered a welder's apprenticeship, then joined the IWU and also the naval reserves, and he became a Navy Seabee; metals specialist, then he got into robotics and became a design engineer (civilian) and at the same time a construction engineer (military).

He definitely had rough times growing up, and he's still quirky and socially awkward and he's not real easy to get along with. But he's very grateful I didn't let anyone mess with his brain in any way. It's perfect as it is, he likes it, and he's done very well by it.
 

I only regret that I didn't ask my parents more questions regarding their lives and their ancestors. Now it's too late for some time.
And my own life? I'm here on earth to follow my spiritual path. If I were already perfect, I would not have to reincarnate. But I did, so I'm glad for the chance to meet my parents, my wife, all the very special people (including you) and my beloved four-legged companions.
 
Gaer said:
Well, What I thought of as regretful, I now understand as a karmic influence I had to live out to get rid of
so I never have to experience him again. haha! "It " again. Everything that I went through was something
I had to live through. My experiences lightened my load so I'm now happier, freer, more alive, more aware.
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This might make sense to you Gaer. My marriage was a huge mistake but I was told by a medium that it was necessary for me to marry this particular man and divorce him. It severed a karmic tie between us.
 
Maybe just a small regret, waiting so long to have surgery on both arms to correct the nerve entrapments.
Soon before that, playing musical instruments became impossible.
Would sit at the piano and things just wouldn't work. Same with string instruments.
Could still read the music, but could not get my fingers to do what they were trained to do!

Was in denial. Thought I just didn't have the drive anymore.

Sure was wrong.

After the procedures, opened up a whole new world of enjoyment.
 
This question has plagued me since it popped up on here. I had to do some hard thinking. When thinking back on my regrets I needed to look at the reasons I made the decisions that led up to them. And given where I was in life, and what I thought I knew I made the best choices for me at that time.

So mine are more a case of, "If I knew then what I know now..." and that is where the regrets begin.

I guess one thing I did was betray someone that I have a great deal of love and respect for, who had gone out of their way to help me. Why? It was just one of those stupid things I did when in survival mode. No excuses. I screwed up...
 
Biggest regret? Jumping out of the tree when I was 10 or so. I knocked my hip out of alignment so badly, that as a boy scout, 5 mile hikes ached badly.

As the years went, the hip got worse. I'd have never made it in the military, police or any service. That one single incident, screwed my life up.
 
No big regrets, but I'm sad I didn't buy my eldest sister the lilacs I saw at the flower stand. I was tired, rushing to get home, and figured I'd get them next time and bring them to her.

She had been in the hospital for 7 months with uterine cancer. They didn't have hospice in those days but she lived alone, and both me and my other sister lived in small apartments with no room to take care of her. So the HMO hospital let her stay in a private room, and the nurses were wonderful and kind to her.

She died the next night, a couple of weeks short of her 38th birthday - one of the few evenings neither of us went to see her.

It was a long time before I could look at lilacs again.
 
I regret staying in my first marriage too long.
Nothing ever changed, wasted too much time.

Also, regret not helping my parents more. Financially.
I was always around to cook and care for them, which they appreciated.
Valuable time we spent together, that I'm eternally grateful for....
 
https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=bc27...1dHViZS5jb20vd2F0Y2g_dj05U1hXWDZxZzB5NA&ntb=1

As Frank Sintra sang, "I Did it My Way":

And now the end is near
So I face the final curtain
My friends, I'll say it clear
And state my case of which I'm certain

I've lived a life that's full
I've traveled each and every highway, "I Did it My Way"
And more, much more than this
I did it my, my way

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exception

And I planned each charted course
Each careful step along life's byway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall
And did it my way

I loved, I laughed, I cried
Had my filled my share of losing
And now as tears subside
I find it all so amusing
Just to think I did all that
And may I say, not in a shy way
Oh no, oh no, not me
I did it my way

For what is a man, what has he got
If not himself, then he has not
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way

To say the things he trully feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my, my way
 
As others have said, the mistakes and choices we have made make us who we are today so I try to never look back. If I have one regret, it is feeling "lesser" because I was gay and having low self-esteem that caused me to make poor choices early in life. I still somehow eked out a successful career and a 30+ year partnership. I would love to get those years back, but they are gone, I'm happy, enjoying the present and looking forward to the future. "Spilled milk", as they say.
 
I did the best I could with what I had to work with and I don't think I ever intentionally hurt anyone. So, while my life hasn't been perfect by any means, it is what it is.

I see these homeless people around town and I wonder what their story is. How did so many people wind up like that? Is it because they just didn't try or they just didn't have the ability to accomplish anything. I think it's more likely that they lack any ambition whatsoever.

I guess if I had one thing that helped me get through life, it was ambition. Some things weren't meant to be, but at least I tried. And compared to a lot of people in the world, I've been successful. I may not feel successful, but at least I'm not homeless.
 
NorthernLight said:
For much of my life I was missing important information about things that "everyone" knows. I was isolated because of my personality. Should I regret being me?
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Same here.
Murrmurr said:
My son was born with a different kind of brain - this was back in the 70s before doctors diagnosed ADD and ADHD and all that, and they started giving kids drugs to "manage" the symptoms. So anyway, the schools and doctors wanted to run tests and stuff to find out how he ticked, and I was all "You can look but don't touch" about it. I promised myself I'd protect his brain. In fact, I started feeding it; giving him tons of Legos and science kits, and chunks of wood and metal and some tools...just anything he could tinker with and focus that wonderful little brain on. And he built stuff all day long. Weird shit that actually performed some sort of useless but fascinating function.
Click to expand...
I wish my parents had done that with my brother who sounds like your son; maybe my brother's life would've turned out better.
 
my biggest regret , was not bringing my sons up on my own, without their fathers influence , thankgod that marriage only lasted 9yrs
he manipulated all of us and played us one against the other ...................but they were young enough , to be bought up by my lovely man ...(2nd husband) x ... Now .they are big enough and old enough , to be influenced by him if they want ...
 
Regret may be too strong a word when it comes to actions taken in the past, because given what we had to work with in experience and opportunity, those choices seemed to be the best at the time.

Example? To get an assignment in Europe while in the service, I was told I would have to extend my enlistment. When I accepted, others told me later that they were told the same and refused but were sent to Europe anyway.

I have a lifetime of examples.
 
Back in highschool Laurie M. offered to give me a ride home from a party we were at. I said "nah, I'm here with some buddies". Stupid, stupid boy I was !!!

Seriously I could never pick one regret but will say the years between the ages of 14 and 22 were very shameful for me. I have never been able to erase the stain of those years.
 

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