Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Reveal The One Thing They Most Regret Doing In Life

Woman walking through field looking sad.
person standing in the middle of wheat field
Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash
Make us preferred on Google

Not much good can come from dwelling on the past.

Even so, no matter how hard we try to avoid doing so, we can't help but look back on things we've done in our lives which we regret.

In some cases, it's nothing which had any sort of lasting effect, like wishing we thought more carefully about where we had a birthday or spending more than we could afford on an outfit that didn't end up paying off.

In sadder cases though, we often wonder what our lives might have been like if he had made a different, and smarter decision.

If we didn't say certain things to certain people, not spoken up when someone needed us to or rushed too hastily into a life we weren't ready for.


Redditor Anxious_Childhood3105 was curious to hear the biggest regrets people have been carrying with them all their lives, leading them to ask:
"What is one thing you regret doing in life?"

Giving People Attention Who Didn't Deserve It

"Wasting time worrying about people that never spared me a single thought."- Eborys

Getting In With The Wrong Crowd

"I regret making friends with people who I knew were bad for me just because it was easier than becoming friends with good people."

"Now I don't have many solid friends."- misswallflowerr

Staying In, When They Should Have Gotten Out

"Not ending bad/unhealthy/unfulfilling relationships sooner."- Superseriouslyguys

"Hanging on to a relationship for too long."

"I should have up and disappeared the first time he was disrespectful."- Mirrorflute88

Not Taking Enough Risks

"Not putting myself out there enough."

"I probably missed out on a lot of opportunities because I'm so self-conscious."

"Working on this though!"- Fife_Flyer

"Not following my dreams and ended up sitting behind a desk for 30 years."

"Of course, I'm currently on Reddit sitting behind my desk."

"So, there's that."- CatOnTheHill

"Overthinking my way out of potentially rewarding choices."- mmmmike1590

Rushing Into Things

"Going to college before I had the slightest idea what I wanted to do with my life."- Mysterious_Shake2894

Taking Things For Granted

"Not spending more time with my mom."

"I visited her 2-3 times a week but still, there were other times she'd call and I'd ignore the call or tell her I didn't have time to talk."

"Would give anything to go back and take every one of those calls."- Fruitjustlistens

Putting Their Health At Risk

"Most of 2019–addiction bottom."

"Sober now for 432 days and counting."- CommunicationTop5231

"Smoking."

"20 years spent on expensive, self-fed poison."

"Biggest regret of my life, by far."- Itsprobablysarcasm

Undervaluing Self-Worth

"Mentally exhausting myself at work for companies that turned out to not give a sh*t about me or value my work."- fpuni107

"Being too nice to tell undeserving people to f*ck off when I should've been putting myself first."

"Lessons learned."- MrsHppy

Not Having Enough Fun

"So, this is gonna sound kinda dumb, but I kinda wish I had acted out a bit more."

"Taken more risks, gotten in trouble more, explored and pushed my boundaries."

"I was pretty sheltered growing up and really wanted to be this good person."

"It created a lot of conflicting feelings for me."

"It also contributed to me avoiding doing some stuff cause I thought it'd be bad for me."

"Now that I'm older and worked through some of those issues, I feel like I missed out on a lot of stuff other people got in their teens and 20s."

"I'm now at a point where I'm exploring that, but most people my age have already gone through it."

"I just feel like I'm trying to 'catch up' with everybody."- animewhitewolf

It's only human to look back on things we regret, or wish we had done differently.

But living in the past will only keep us in the past.

The only way to move forward and make progress is to accept the present for what it is: a present.


More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Donald Trump
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Trump's Midterm Convention Is Getting Epically Roasted After His Dismal Crowd Size Is Revealed

Despite the fact that President Donald Trump was one of several speakers scheduled to speak at the GOP midterm convention, the event has nonetheless attracted attention for the number of empty seats sure to upset a president obsessed with crowd size.

Liz Landers, the White House correspondent with PBS News Hour, shared footage of the event "officially kicking off in Dallas" that clearly shows scores of empty seats.

Keep ReadingShow less
TikTok screenshots
@girlcodelettie/TikTok

Woman Floored After Tinder Date Tells Her She Can Only Have 2nd Date With Him If She Follows His Unhinged Rules

A woman who goes by the name Lettie (@girlcodelettie) on TikTok gave people a glimpse into dating in the age of the "Alpha male" with her now viral video.

Her post, viewed over 177,000 times and garnering over 1,000 comments, shared the rules a man told her she must follow in order to earn a second date with him.

Keep ReadingShow less
Josh Hutcherson (left) and AnnaSophia Robb (right) starred in Bridge to Terabithia.
Leon Bennett/Getty Images for HBO; Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

Josh Hutcherson Jokingly Apologizes For 'Traumatizing' Entire Generation Of Kids With 'Bridge To Terabithia'

Nineteen years, several Hunger Games and countless therapy sessions later, millennials are apparently still seeking justice for what Bridge to Terabithia did to us.

For anyone fortunate enough to have escaped this childhood trauma, Josh Hutcherson played Jess Aarons in the 2007 fantasy drama alongside AnnaSophia Robb as Leslie Burke. The unlikely best friends create the magical world of Terabithia to escape everyday life.

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshots of Vivek Ramaswamy campaign ad
@vivekgramaswamy/Instagram

Vivek Ramaswamy Dragged After Showing Off His Awkward Baseball Swing In Cringey Batting Cage Campaign Video

Billionaire former Republican presidential and current Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy's athletic prowess is being derided online after his campaign posted a video of him hitting baseballs in a batting cage on Instagram and TikTok on Tuesday.

The ribbing got so bad that the Ramaswamy campaign pulled the video off Instagram, leaving up only a similar one from June in which he wields a tennis racket. Unfortunately for them, plenty of people had already made and shared copies across social media where the merciless mockery continued.

Keep ReadingShow less
Carly Rae Jepsen (left) revealed her baby boy’s name was inspired by Heated Rivalry (right).
Natasha Moustache/Getty Images; Courtesy of Crave

Carly Rae Jepsen Reveals Her Baby's Name Was Inspired By 'Heated Rivalry'—And Fans Are So Here For It

If the Venn diagram of Carly Rae Jepsen fans and Heated Rivalry fans wasn’t already a circle, this might finally do it.

The "Call Me Maybe" singer just revealed that her first child with husband Cole M.G.N. is a baby boy named Ilya—and yes, that Ilya may have had something to do with it. While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter about her new album, Day and Night, Jepsen opened up about her love for Heated Rivalry before casually dropping the baby-name revelation.

Keep ReadingShow less