I can't think of anything right now (maybe not enough coffee yet?), but rather think of them as 'learning experiences.

What is a mistake you have made that you can't take back.

We're all capable of mistakes, but I do not care to enlighten you on the mistakes we may or may not have made

Dan Quayle (1947 - )

Here is a link that might be useful: Mistakes quotes

My most regretted mistake was not finishing nursing school - I will regret it until the day I die. Life got in the way and I got sidetracked - now I have to live with my bad choices.

Not finishing high school....and....not paying attention and learning while was there. Over the years, I've done some studying and took classes to improve my english and other things i should have learned in school. Much harder to engage the old brain when your older, at least for me.

Just ONE? You must be kidding!

I agree with "Just ONE?" HAHA!

I think probably not going to college. At the time I was at that age, I went to cosmetology school and got a license but as I aged, that was not what I wanted to do at all. OF COURSE hindsite is 20/20.

I'm with chisue on this one. I've had quite a few "learning experiences" in my life.

Same. I def have some moments in my life that I wish I had a "do over" for. Things I have done or not done that I will regret and wish I could change. And I'm with other posters, I have more than one.

Sigh....life marches on. Sometimes it stomps all over us.

Too many to list.

Nothing I would want to share with the world.

When I was in my late teens and letting others talk me out of goals I had planned for my future.

Now that I am single I would say my biggest mistake was "Marriage and Kids".

Not spending more time with the kids as they were growing up....We had 5 and of course, very busy, but I could have left those clothes unfolded or not rush through dinner, just spent more time, listening and enjoying......

But, life does go on and we make the best of it.....I certainly don't rush through anything now!

I have made numerous mistakes, but have taught me well. Life's lessons.

I don't really believe in having regrets...you make the choices you make for some reason at that time. Making mistakes makes you who you are.

If there is anything I would redo is choosing a private university that costed too much money. BUT I made that choice and had I not, my life would be completely different...different friends, different jobs, etc. So, I don't regret it.

You have to play the hand you are dealt at any given time. That's what life is all about.

I was given the choice by my parents..be a nurse or a teacher. Since we had no nurses in our family and many teachers, I chose teaching. I didn't want to teach, but that was my option then. I married a semester before I graduated (no, I wasn't knocked up, just a poor decision) and of course never taught. I don't think my liberal arts education was wasted, but i would much rather have been a designer or landscape architect. Luckily times change. I let my daughter and son pick their college curriculums and both are satisfied in their life choices. Even though I had a semester to finish, I didn't being busy raising kids. GD will graduate in a few months and is already producing films. She will head to LA and try to get in the business.

Sticking with Ex, back in 95.

Would have been easier to go in to the work force at that age.....

Moni

Four times of trying to help people, to the point of even buying a house for the one couple, only to have it destroyed and be out all the money with no way to get any of it back. Every time we've followed our hearts instead of our heads, we've been "chit" upon. Never again.

Letting my friends dictate my life (when I was younger). I wasted a lot of time but I'm back on track. I would not have learned this though if I would not have done it.

My first husband.

I'm not a quitter. There are times maybe I should have been.

Starting to smoke at age 16. I finally quit for good at age 32 but I do worry some about the damage I did to my body.

I also regret gaining the weight back I lost a few years ago. I'm going back to Weight Watchers now and am losing it again but I wish I had worked harder to keep it off. I think it's so much harder to keep it off then to lose it.

Wishing I had more firm with my Mom insisting taking business courses instead of teaching. Love keeping records, did not do good teaching or leading. But cannot worry about it now, like I have over the years.
She dropped out of college, to be a teacher, but never knew why--and her brothers all told me it was her choice. But then we never communicated much--just making me feel guilty no matter what== very very possessive person. She is gone now.

I tried to use tough love on my sister and stopped speaking to her. She died before we could make amends and the guilt from that is very hard to move forward from.

Thee is no mistake in my life that I regret and I probably made some doozies. But I learned from each and every one of them. They moved me forward.

I agree with Jennmonkey. You do the best you can with the cards you are dealt.

I could choose to carry old baggage with me or I can move on to the next adventure life brings. I choose the latter.

I would never share the one that I truly regret.

In my case, every mistake I've made I can't go back to change those; That requires time travel. Since those were mistakes, all are regretable.

I agree with so many of the posters who say "just one?" - while I do believe we learn from every blip that life gives us, there are certainly a couple of events in my life that, if I could go back, I would approach differently.
As for the biggest regret, I have a huge one - I regret that I wasn't more pro-active with my daughter in her teens when (looking back) she first started to show signs of an anxiety disorder and shutting herself up in the house. Now, she's 23 today and has no life except her online friends, no skills, no way to support herself if something happens to me other than Welfare.
Soon, I am going to have to force the issue as I might be making some changes in my own life and she will have to do the same.
It's a very tough situation that few people can really appreciate unless they have dealt with the same situation.

None.
I'm happy with my life today, and I believe it's the result of all my decisions, both good and bad.

I am unsure about regret. I certainly feel badly for some things I did in the past and for some things that happened to me that I didn't handle well. In most of these cases I believe I acted with the tools--emotional, rational, spiritual, experiential--available to me at the time even if those tools were limited or undeveloped. As a more experienced and wiser (I hope) person now, I might not make the same decisions but I try not to live in the past. There are a couple of things I'm struggling with now (ie. forgiveness) that I know may cause regret in the future. I am trying my best to work on them.

One mistake: Not pursuing adopting a child more vigorously. Can't do it now at my age.

czech chick, I don't know how old you are, but it is probably possible for you to be a Foster parent if you wanted to consider that. My neighbors are a couple who couldn't have kids and didn't adopt earlier. But they did become foster parents a few years ago (in their young 50's) and are now fostering a little 6 year old girl and absolutely loving it.

I'm 59 (soon to be 60) and my husband is 65.

I think it would be too late, but I appreciate your thoughts!

Carol

one regret is not speaking up for myself. I feel I have let people in my life walk all over me. Letting those people tell me things that destroyed some dreams I had.

My other regret....well....can't tell you now but someday I will. Just something I am going through and don't have the courage to tell anyone.

SamKaren
your resident DJ

Sometimes, I believe that there can be no one on this earth who has made more mistakes than I have, but I don't regret them; I learned from them, and they shaped me and formed me into the person I am today.

People who make *LOTS* of mistakes are the ones sticking their necks out in the world and trying new things and challenging their boundaries.

In 2006, I did something incredibly stupid and it cost me my life savings and gave me 12 months of hellish emotional torment, but specifically because of that terrible time, I met my husband and we were soon married and he bought me a house and he is very good to me (78% of the time!). My life is now sweeter than I once dreamt possible.

In other words, that hellish torment turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Rose

Overall I'm pretty satisfied wth my life. I've been married 28 years, it isn't perfect but I'd never consider leaving. I have 3 great grown kids and a great grandson. He has my first name as his middle name and a finer honor I've never had bestown upon me.

I've made a ton of mistakes but what I have to share are two mistakes that I can't believe I DIDN'T make, if you follow my drift.

#1 I was never a ladies man. I dated but either I was interested an she wasn't, or the other way around. Shortly after a bad breakup I was introduced to a girl by a mutual friend. Sill in mourning I didn't pursue her. I ran into her again 6 months later, still nothing from me. Some time after that while at a wedding where I was an usher she showed up - without a date. I realized that three times now we had crossed paths, too many to be a coincidence. I woke up and asked for her number. You've guessed by now it's my wife.

#2: I was drafted during the Vietnam War (BTW Friday is Veteran's Day!) I trained as a medic; behind the scenes, not the kind that goes on patrol and gets shot at. I and another guy with the same job got orders after training. Mine was for Vietnam, his was to stay right where we were in MD. He offered to trade orders with me but I turned him down. I wouldn't trade the memories of the good work we did in our hospital or the friends I made for the world!

When you look back it is the road that brought you to where you are now.

My biggest regret - and I have NEVER told anyone this...(big, big breath) I got someone wrongly expelled in high school. I was being pressured for a name and didn't want my then best friend (guilty one) to get in trouble.
I named someone that routinely got in trouble...They were eventually allowed back in school, but after 25 years I still agonize over my lack of courage to do the right thing.
I still this this person, I wish I had the guts to face them....I just can't.

salgal - you will get the courage to apologize eventually.

My regret - my first marriage. He was a good guy but not a good husband... although it led me to my now DH who is a great husband, and a good guy!

married too early at 18, and divorced at 22...but a blessing! headed to year 42 with present hubs!

I guess a lot of the unfortunate things in life that I thought of as bad luck turned out to be good luck in disguise. The bad luck changed what I was going to do, and I ended up with an even better choice down the line. This happened quite a few times, as apparently to others who have posted here.

I also regret allowing myself to put on too much weight in the last 25 years.