What are the greatest regrets in your life?

We all regret things in our life to varying degrees so it is not surprising that psychologists have decided to take a deeper look at what we regret and why. Canadian blog BoomerWatch took on the topic of regret in the baby boomer generation citing the work of psychologists Neal Roese and Amy Summerville. Their research project, "What We Regret Most… And Why," sheds new light on this somewhat disquieting and cruel emotion.

Their findings rank the categories that trigger regret, in the following order of frequency: education (32%), career (22%), romance (15%), parenting (10%) and self (5.47%) were the top five.

For the most part, people agree. They would rather look back and regret the things they did than the things they didn’t do. Studies have proven that regrets of inaction persist much longer than regrets of action.

Roese and Summerville added:

Overall, these findings show that people’s biggest regrets are a reflection of where in life they see their largest opportunities; that is, where they see tangible prospects for change, growth, and renewal.

There is little you can do for the missed opportunities of the past. Boomerwatch recommends "blow(ing) them off and rejoice in at least having taken some action and made some important decisions in life." We agree. Use the slightly unsettling feeling of regret to motivate yourself to do something about it. Tackle something important on your "to do before I die" list and if you don't have such a list then make one. No one lives a perfect life and no one accomplishes everything that they set out to do. Some people however are in constant motion so that instead of reflecting on missed opportunities of the past they are working towards new accomplishments in the present. Don't be afraid to take a chance. As you read above, people generally feel worse for not trying than for trying and failing.

h/t: The Best Kept Secret