REGRETS in LIFE

What are some things you realize as you get older? 1. When sleeping becomes a reward rather than a punishment, you’ve grown up. 2. It’s freaking weird that 18-year-olds are born in 2004. 3. The way taxes are, you might as well marry for love. 4. Being kind is more important than being right. 5. Eye contact is either mad attractive or mad awkward. 6. Nobody really cares if you don’t go to the party. 7. Most people aren’t afraid of failure, they are afraid of other people’s reactions to their failure. 8. To catch a partner is an art, to hold them is a job. 9. It’s not your job to be likable. It’s your job to be yourself.

Working so much at the expense of family and friendships. How do you balance meeting that short-term deadline at work and sitting down for dinner with your family?

Stayed in touch with some good friends from my childhood and youth. There's usually one childhood or high school friend who we were best buddies with.

Turned off my phone more/Left my phone at home. Many of us can't get off our phone/email addiction. We sleep with it next to us.

Breaking up with my true love/Getting dumped by them. Romance is a big area of regret for most of us. Maybe we dumped someone that we wish we hadn't.

Worrying about what others thought about me so much. Most of us place way too much importance on what other people around us think about us. How will they judge us?

Not having enough confidence in myself. Why did we allow the concerns of others to weigh so heavy on us instead of trusting our own beliefs?

Living the life that my parents wanted me to live instead of the one I wanted to. Whose life am I living any way?

Applying for that "dream job" I always wanted. Maybe we didn't apply for that job we always wanted to because of a child, or because our spouse didn't want to move cities.

Been happier more. Not taken life so seriously. Seems strange to say, but most of us don't know how to have fun. We're way too serious. We don't find the humor in life. We don't joke around. We don't think we're funny. So, we go through life very serious.

Letting my marriage break down. Back to romance now. More people will divorce than stay together. If you ask these folks, they'll tell you that it was for the best. They couldn't take it any more.

Not asking that girl/boy out. Nerves get the best of us - especially when we're young. We can forgive ourselves that we didn't screw up enough courage to ask that boy or girl out on a date or to the prom.

Getting involved with the wrong group of friends when I was younger. We do dumb stuff when we're young. We're impressionable. We make friends with the wrong crowd, except we don't think there's anything wrong with them.

Not getting that degree (high school or college). I've spoken with lots of folks who didn't graduate with a high school or college degree.

Spending more time with the kids. I had an old mentor who used to tell me, "when it comes to parenting, it's not quality of time that's important, it's quantity of time."

Not taking care of my health when I had the chance. Everyone doesn't think of their health - until there's a problem. And at that point, we promise ourselves if we get better we'll do a better job with our health.

Not visiting a dying friend before he died. What I'd give to have one last regular chat with him/her.

Learning another language. A lot of us travel a lot. Fewer still have studied a second language. And this is a big regret down the road for many of us, even though it might seem like a small thing next to family, career, and romance.

Being a better father or mother. There's no bigger legacy than our children. Often, they turn out great. When our kids struggle though, there's nothing bigger than makes us feel guilty.