We all know that nobody's perfect. Even if you consider yourself a pretty good person and try to do your best in life, most of us have done a thing or two that we reallyyy wish we hadn't.
Well, Reddit user u/FroyoNecessary5999 recently posed the question, "What is something you did that you deeply regret doing?"
And I was surprised by how many deep and thought-provoking answers were given. Here are some of the top-voted responses:
1. "Probably rejecting my grandpa when he wanted to play chess. He then fell from a roof a week later, and I never had the chance to play chess with him again. Still bothers me that I never had this moment with him."
2. "I deeply regret letting my creative writing and piano playing skills go to crap. Ever since I entered the corporate world 19 years ago, it has consumed me, and I no longer feel passionate about those things. I stopped practicing everything. When I try to make myself do them, it feels like just that: like I am forcing myself, and it is no longer fun. I feel like I’ve become a shell of my former self in so many ways."
3. "Not opening a retirement account when I was 18 like I was told to. And not investing my money I made bartending in my 20s. When you're that young, you don't think about things like that unfortunately."
4. "When I was 7 or 8 years old, I snapped at my dad for getting me the wrong video game, and I can still see the disappointment in his face. Haunts me to this day."
"Mine is very similar to this. On Christmas morning, I was super excited to open my presents. I’d asked for an Xbox 360 and knew one of the wrapped boxes was it! Opened it, and it was a PS3. I was disappointed, and my mom looked shattered. It was an honest mistake; I can’t believe I was so ungrateful about it. I really wish I could go back. I was 14/15, and I’m 27 now and still feel bad about it. I make sure to treat my parents the best I can now. They deserve it."
5. "Getting married. I spent years paying off her substantial debt, then dumped another $50k in our 'forever house,' only to live in it for a year. Now, she's debt free, and I lost half of everything I paid for. Never again."
6. "Not fighting and advocating more for myself growing up. I struggled with classes, jobs, projects, and hobbies. I had a really hard time focusing on anything. I was called stupid, lazy, and all sorts of other things by my teachers, friends, and co-workers. I knew I wasn't any of those things but just couldn't seem to get things right. ... Now, a father in my 40s, I started seeing similar issues with my daughter. When we went to speak to some specialists, it turns out she has ADHD and a generalized anxiety disorder."
"We got her treatment and a prescription for some medications, and she's doing so much better at everything. The similarities in her struggles and mine motivated me to get tested, and sure enough, I got diagnosed with ADHD (inattentive type). I started counseling and medication, and it's like a switch was thrown. I'm a functional human finally.
Now, I'm just dealing with the emotional trauma of growing up like that and all the pent-up frustration and anger over a life that 'might have been' had my parents, or anyone for that matter, made an effort to really find out why I was the way I was. ... Better late than never I guess."
7. "Focusing on boys and relationships instead of friends in high school and college. I should have developed my social skills and had a whole group of friends instead of wasting my time and breaking my heart over immature guys."
8. "Cheating on my girlfriend. I ended up breaking up with her because I couldn't deal with the guilt anymore. She deserved better. I still feel bad for hurting her."
9. "When I was 7 years old, I had an argument with my mother the night before she died. Before I went to bed, she asked me for a hug, but I told her no and stormed off to bed. The next morning, I woke up to find everyone in the house gone; it was surreal and confusing. My father came back that morning crying and told me my mother had died of a brain hemorrhage. ... Never go to bed on an argument."
10. "I regret my tattoos. They aren’t the worst, but I’ve outgrown them. I wish I hadn’t been so impulsive when I decided to get them."
11. "Using my credit card too much to buy things I didn’t need. Now, I’m dealing with a maxed out credit card that’s killing me every month."
12. "When I was 7 or 8 years old, my mom made me say to my dad, 'I don't want you home anymore' to use me as leverage against him in their dispute. At the time, I was scared of my mom and said it even though I didn't want to. It was the first time I saw my dad cry."
"Not long ago, I apologized to my dad about this, and he assured me that he doesn't even remember, and that I had nothing to apologize for as I was a kid. He knew I did not mean to hurt him. Since then, I feel much better about that dark point in my life."
13. "I deeply regret picking on this socially-challenged girl when I was younger. I wasn't particularly vicious or anything, but I should have used my popularity to stand up for her, or at least treat her right."
"I have the same regret about picking on a boy I grew up with. He was never mean to me or anything. He was the punching bag of the class. I never bothered to step in for him because I was also a punching bag in a way who barely made it in with the popular group. He was a small kid with ADHD who was the perfect target for a kid to pick on. Never saw him again after eighth grade. I truly hope he's doing well."
14. "Getting married to my first girlfriend at 19. I rushed the relationship because it felt good to not be alone, and I thought that I could help her with her depression and anxiety. I was hoping to have kids with her as well. However, as time went on, she just got worse and kept using her depression as a crutch to justify every terrible thing she did."
"When I started experiencing depression, I stopped trying to keep things together, and we got divorced a few years ago. I still haven't recovered mentally from it, and between that and the pandemic, I feel like a shell of the man I used to be."
15. "Being too kind to people that do me wrong all the time."
"This is a hard lesson I'm still learning myself. In my opinion, it's even worse when it's family members that do this."
16. "My mom died nearly one year ago (February 7, 2022). She battled ALS for two years. It was very sudden and a horrific experience. The last thing she said to me before she lost the ability to speak was 'stay.' She was dying and afraid and just wanted her daughter to stay by her side, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t sit and watch her die. It was excruciating for me. I did visit her every day until her death, but she was no longer there really. She died a week later. I will never forgive myself."
17. "Slacking off in high school and not taking college seriously. I could have worked harder and found a career where I would be financially stable, yet here I am."
18. "I deeply regret ghosting someone I really did like. And she liked me. I had some bouts of extreme anxiety last year and just kind of couldn't function. I think I was also not really prepared for meeting her. It was unexpected, and I wasn't in a great place for that at the time. I don't know if I should reach out to apologize or not. I don't know if she would want to hear from me."
"I want her to know it wasn't because I didn't like her. I really did. I feel terrible about it."
19. "I wish I was more ambitious. I love my job, but I've worked here forever. There were multiple times where I could have gone for management positions, but I just was content to pick up a check."
20. "Putting time and effort into relationships/friendships that I should have just let go of the first chance I had."
"Alternatively, not putting enough time and effort into relationships/friendships that actually were worth it."
21. And finally, "Becoming a parent. Despite loving my kid, I feel I'm just no good at it, and it's destroyed my sense of who I am as an individual."
"Thank you for saying the quiet part of parenting out loud. As a mom, I feel extreme guilt about the fact that I love my children, but I do not enjoy the job that is parenting. It’s just nice to know that you’re not alone out there. Because a lot of people would shame us for saying that. When in reality, some of us are just built different. Parenting is a job like any other, and some people are very fit for that position, and others aren’t."
Do you have any regrets in life? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.