What do you think to the saying, people regret the things they didn’t do more than the things they did do ?

[Lardlizard]

Do you think it’s true ?

Yes. But I think I've generally taken opportunities when they've presented themselves. And also, whilst I wish I'd travelled more, I've lived on 3 continents (and there's still time). I try not to live with the regrets of things I've done because they've made me who I am and led me onto other things. Eg staying in a bad relationship wasn't a good point in my life but the knock on circumstances meant I moved to a city where my now husband was living, and I'm now happily married; changing careers the first time didn't work out, I ended up halving my salary and really struggling financially for over two years, if I hadn't done that though I wouldn't have applied for the job I now have (and love).

As pp said, it depends on what the regret is. And it probably depends on the person.

I think regrets for things one didn't do can plague people more because it's a 'what if', and some have a tendency to assume it would have worked out better than reality. Maladaptive daydreaming in some can revolve around tweaking these what ifs and wants in the past that can't be changed except in the mind.

The did do regrets, at least for me, tend to be that pangs of 'that was fucking stupid' moments when they come to mind. It's harder to spend a lot of time thinking about those. I wouldn't say those regrets are less, but I spend less time on them.

I think for a lot of people, as already mentioned in this thread, it's regrets things one has done, but could have been done sooner, that happen more. Especially if it's gone a lot better than expected, the 'what ifs' can play in more because we know if can go well, even if hard, maybe it would be even better if we had more time with it/easier if we started earlier.

It's not true for me. I have many regrets.

This saying is one of those that people trot out without thinking about them. Another is, 'Respect has to be earned'. No it doesn't. The default is to respect all unless given cause otherwise.