Regrets & Remorse

REGRET is feeling of sadness, repentance, or disappointment over something done or left undone.
It comes from Old French regreter and Modern French regretter from re-, intensive prefix + –greter, possibly from some Germanic source (Old English grætan “to weep;”)

REMORSE is a deep feeling of regret for an action deemed to be shameful, hurtful, or violent. It addresses the speaker’s moral sense of personal guilt and is directed inward – in many cases a sense of having sinned.
It comes from from Medieval Latin remorsum, from the verb remordere “to vex, disturb,” literally “to bite back,” from re-“back” + mordere “to bite.”

“A man is not old until his regrets take the place of his dreams.”

(Yiddish proverb)

 

A lot of blogs, papers, magazines (including the American business magazine Forbes) publish articles on the biggest regrets in life.

Here are some of them:

1. Spending so much time working at the expense of family and friendships
2. Living the life others expected of me instead of living my own dream and followed my passion,
3. Choosing the practical job over the one I really wanted.
4. Worrying about what others thought about me so much.
5. Not having enough confidence in myself or not taking more risks
6. Taking life too seriously instead of letting myself be happier and enjoying life more.
7. Not trusting my instinct
8. Not spending more time with the ones I love and who matter the most.
9. Not taking care of my health when I had the chance
10. Not taking that degree or learning another language
11. Not having the courage to get up and talk at a funeral or important event or not speaking up against the bullies in life.
12. Not staying in touch with some old friends
13. Not being a better parent, child or partner
14. Not burying the hatchet with a family member or old friend.
15. Not visiting a dying friend before he died.

Add yours…

16. Not saying sorry when the opportunity comes.

17. Acting too impulsively

18. Not taking out a private pension at an early age…