I bloody would - starting from the age of 12 onwards.
Weird, 12 is where it all goes wrong isn't it. However I've tried to let most of it go. The things that still iritate me regularly now:
Not writing more letters to my Uncle Ted before he died.
Trusting people that ****ed around with my heart.
Meeting my ex at 17. He changed the whole direction of my life. Things could be so different now.
The rest relate to missed sexual opportunities, so I'll not detail them here but retire to ponder the possibilities in private.................................
- Wasting too much time with my alcoholic, bullying father.
- Not cutting a 'fake friend' out of my life when I had the chance to aged 18. I had to put up with a lot of nonsense from him in the decade or so that followed. Unfortunately, our social circles overlap and a lot of our mutual friends don't see him for what he really is and he has them wrapped around his little finger. One or two of their wives share my dislike of him, though.
- One 'acquaintance' (I NEVER considered him a 'friend') told me at the age of 19 that he'd slept with the girlfriends of two mutual friends. I probably should've told them, but had my reasons for not doing so at the time. The two blokes both eventually split up with the girls in question, but he still is a 'bit of a lad' and pretends to be their friend. To this day, 12 years on, they wrongly consider him to be a good friend.
- Not making more of a work opportunity that came my way when I was 21 out of shyness/not having enough confidence in my own ability.
- Not realising sooner that there are far better ways to enjoy yourself than getting drunk.
- Not being ruthless enough in ditching 'hangers on' from my life.
- Not having more confidence with women when I was in my late teens and early 20s.
However, a LOT of other stuff I DID get right with my life. You usually have to put past mistakes down to experience, make sure you don't repeat them, and move forward with your life.
One of my biggest regrets, if not the biggest was my father not seeking medical help sooner, I'm a realist and know the outcome would had been the same because of what he was diagnosed with, however acting sooner would had given the family more time together, the only silver lining was he slipped away so quickly (given months, but went in weeks) that he avoided alot of pain/sufferring that would had came in the latter stages so we didn't end up at the point where you don't reconise your loved one
He was always the rock of the family and we were very close so it has shook us, months on although you accept someone has passed it doesn't feel real to talk of them in past tense
I was offered two places to work when the Tories destroyed the PCTs. I know nothing about either place and had to make a quick decision. I bitterly regret choosing to come here and not the other place.
I regret staying on in the sixth form at school, instead of going to sixth form college. I would probably still have failed my 'A' Levels, but I would've had a more enjoyable time failing them.
I regret taking the first job I got out of university. That career path was all I wanted growing up, and that job (and the management at that job) soon beat that desire out of me, along with my confidence.
I regret that I developed my tendency to overeat, now I'm trying to get to a healthy weight and re-learn how to eat normal portions and not secret binge eat.
I regret trusting a certain friend five years ago. As a result, my life got ruined. Sounds melodramatic, but my life was wrecked, I'm still suffering the effects to this day. My life is better than it was five years ago, but it has taken a dramatically different turn to how I planned and I don't know how I'm going to get it any better any soon.
I never used to believe in regrets. I do now, unfortunately.
Comments
Weird, 12 is where it all goes wrong isn't it. However I've tried to let most of it go. The things that still iritate me regularly now:
Not writing more letters to my Uncle Ted before he died.
Trusting people that ****ed around with my heart.
Meeting my ex at 17. He changed the whole direction of my life. Things could be so different now.
The rest relate to missed sexual opportunities, so I'll not detail them here but retire to ponder the possibilities in private.................................
- Wasting too much time with my alcoholic, bullying father.
- Not cutting a 'fake friend' out of my life when I had the chance to aged 18. I had to put up with a lot of nonsense from him in the decade or so that followed. Unfortunately, our social circles overlap and a lot of our mutual friends don't see him for what he really is and he has them wrapped around his little finger. One or two of their wives share my dislike of him, though.
- One 'acquaintance' (I NEVER considered him a 'friend') told me at the age of 19 that he'd slept with the girlfriends of two mutual friends. I probably should've told them, but had my reasons for not doing so at the time. The two blokes both eventually split up with the girls in question, but he still is a 'bit of a lad' and pretends to be their friend. To this day, 12 years on, they wrongly consider him to be a good friend.
- Not making more of a work opportunity that came my way when I was 21 out of shyness/not having enough confidence in my own ability.
- Not realising sooner that there are far better ways to enjoy yourself than getting drunk.
- Not being ruthless enough in ditching 'hangers on' from my life.
- Not having more confidence with women when I was in my late teens and early 20s.
However, a LOT of other stuff I DID get right with my life. You usually have to put past mistakes down to experience, make sure you don't repeat them, and move forward with your life.
He was always the rock of the family and we were very close so it has shook us, months on although you accept someone has passed it doesn't feel real to talk of them in past tense
I regret taking the first job I got out of university. That career path was all I wanted growing up, and that job (and the management at that job) soon beat that desire out of me, along with my confidence.
I regret that I developed my tendency to overeat, now I'm trying to get to a healthy weight and re-learn how to eat normal portions and not secret binge eat.
I regret trusting a certain friend five years ago. As a result, my life got ruined. Sounds melodramatic, but my life was wrecked, I'm still suffering the effects to this day. My life is better than it was five years ago, but it has taken a dramatically different turn to how I planned and I don't know how I'm going to get it any better any soon.
I never used to believe in regrets. I do now, unfortunately.