Regret is another word in the dictionary but has more profound meaning than most, as it’s proven it can be a bitter pill to swallow. It can at times become so painful, that the urge is to avoid it completely, often motivates proper decision making.
The mere avoidance of regret can be a reason to forestall or alter any kind of commitment, whether it be to a job, a partner, a place to live or visit.
The reason for this because of the strict fear, you may want to revisit one of those options the instance it disappears.
There has been a long series of studies placed on regret research, which focuses on the findings and the motivations which suggests what most tend to regret the most.
Once reflecting back on their lives, are those regrets of omission rather than the regrets of commission.
Which is being sorry or sad about what they failed to do or what they intended, rather than what they did do.
The Regrets Of Omission
It may not be surprising to some, but if you think about it, those regrets of omission has more impact than those regrets of commission.
If you regret something you’ve done, there’s always usually a chance to undoing it.
This can be a messy divorce, removal of a tattoo, so the effects of making that mistake won’t linger on.
Regrets Of Commission
There are a handful of regrets of commission, such as having an unplanned child, for instance, which is life altering and absolutely impossible to undo.
The efforts which goes into dealing with the aftershocks of such profound remorse are of completely different magnitude, than the ordinary regrets that’s discussed.
Even if you’re not able to fix your regrettable actions, you can at the least rationalize.
Admit that it indeed was a mistake and the wrong thing to do at that time, but at the very least, you’ve learned a lesson from it.
Learning From Regret
But how can you claim you’ve learned a lesson from what you didn’t do.
The chance, the opportunity you passed up or somehow missed, which could of had any number of different outcomes.
It then becomes easy to fantasize about how much better, each and every one of those outcomes may have been.
The Pain Of What If
That’s why that “person” you let go, that job you didn’t take, the neighbourhood or city you didn’t move to, will always cause more remorse than the things which you decided to do.
For many, it becomes a human interest story to see what they ended up regretting, to perhaps avoid the same regrets in their own lives.
This is the reason why there are countless accounts of the most common regrets of those who are elderly, or are dying, that are documented.
These are the accounts of their biggest regrets, the things they wished they’ve done, but didn’t.
The 5 Biggest Regrets The Elderly Have
1) – Living Their Lives For Others
There are individuals who have regretted living out their lives for the purpose of just pleasing the expectations of others, this instead of themselves.
The majority of them didn’t bother to honour even a portion of what their own dreams were.
Then they realized it was because of the choices they’ve made, and the one’s they didn’t make.
2) – Just Worked Too Hard Their Entire Lives
There are many who have regretted having worked so damn hard in their entire lives. This was also noted by the majority of males as one of their biggest regrets.
What they deeply regretted was spending way too much time on the rat race that was work, and not enough time on leisure.
This is also expected will become true, if not already, for all of the women in the workplace.
This is because women now have as much responsibility as their male counterparts, who at one time were traditionally the breadwinners of the family.
Now that they’re on the same work treadmill, the regret is the same for both men and women.
It now appears to be running nonstop, as it’s not uncommon to see sixty hour plus work weeks, five to seven days a week, just to keep pace.
3) – Failing To Express Their True Thoughts
Another on the list of regrets was they not expressing their true feelings, and acting them out. They remaining too submissive.
What this led to was bitterness, resentment, and living a life of mediocrity.
A life which fell short of what they could of had, if they would have spoken up and said or did something.
4) – Not Keeping Touch With The One’s They Knew
Most who are now elderly, regretted they lost touch with their friends and family. Acquaintances they’ve developed over the years, and failed to keep contact.
Everyone at times misses their friends, family, those who they were close to, which turns into regret and feel they should have done more.
So for those in the Social Media generation, please take note and develop more human contact.
5) – Not Being And Doing Happier Things
The elderly regretted not being happier, or having more fun than they should have.
They didn’t realize this until it was too late, that their happiness was a choice had and could control.
There are countless reports of individuals, who longed for and wanted to just laugh out loud naturally.
To be silly and funny once again, things which they lost as a child, while getting caught in this thing called living a life.
So take note, regret is something you can’t get back, but only ponder upon when it’s too late.
Do the things you’ve want to do today, to avoid regretting it once it’s too late to do something about it.