At the end of our lives, we mostly regret the risks we didn't take, the dreams we didn't do and the love we failed to give. If those things are going to be important to you at the end, make them important to you right now.

There are many crossroads in life. All regrets stem from what happened at one moment we never imagined would happen to us. When our own action brings about an unexpected result, how can we not experience huge regret? After all, do we ever get another shot?

Of the hundreds of answers, most had one thing in common: the majority of regrets were about failures to act, not actions that failed. Psychologists have found that over time we usually regret the chances we missed, not the chances we took. As my mom often told me when I was growing up, “You regret the things you don’t do, not the things you do.

I don't have many regrets in my life. I suppose like a lot of men I've hurt women when I was being selfish or there's a real hurt towards ex-girlfriends that probably didn't need to have happened. That's probably the greatest series of regrets in my life. But other than that, and certainly professionally, not really, no.

What kind of regrets? For me, very few books cause tears, much less require a handkerchief, but Bronnie Ware’s 2012 book The Top Five Regrets of the Dying did both. Ware spent many years caring for those facing their own mortality. When she questioned the dying about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, Bronnie found that common themes surfaced again and again. The five most common were these: I wish that I’d let myself be happier — too late they realized happiness is a choice; I wish I’d stayed in touch with my friends — too often they failed to give them the time and effort they deserved; I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings — too frequently shut mouths and shuttered feelings weighed too heavy to handle; I wish I hadn’t worked so hard — too much time spent making a living over building a life caused too much remorse. As tough as these were, one stood out above them all. The most common regret was this: I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself not the life others expected of me. Half-filled dreams and unfulfilled hopes: this was the number-one regret expressed by the dying. As Ware put it, “Most people had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.” Bronnie Ware’s observations aren’t hers alone. At the conclusion of their exhaustive research, Gilovich and Medvec in 1994 wrote, “When people look back on their lives, it is the things they have not done that generate the greatest regret.... People’s actions may be troublesome initially; it is their inactions that plague them most with long-term feelings of regret.” Honoring our hopes and pursuing productive lives through faith in our purpose and priorities is the message from our elders. From the wisest position they’ll ever have comes their clearest message. No regrets. So make sure every day you do what matters most. When you know what matters most, everything makes sense. When you don’t kno

I would rather regret the things I have done than the things I have not

Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets.

Not having any regrets might actually be my biggest regret. I wish I was capable of feeling regret.

One of the most difficult things to think about in life is one’s regrets. Something will happen to you, and you will do the wrong thing, and for years afterward you will wish you had done something different.

You have to choose your future regrets.

I have just one regret in life:
that chance I wasted when you said goodbye.
And to be honest, at the time,
though I could see, I must have been blind.
Oh what I'd give to have you back,
relive those moments once again,
I'd take your hand and we would fly,
Just you and me, my love and I.

I'd rather regret the things I have done than the things I have not.

I'd rather regret the things that I have done than the things that I have not.

Things you will regret: Allowing your potential to remain trapped behind people’s opinions. Spending too much time dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, Time spent with people that don’t want the best for you, Neglecting family, Never taking risks