Regrets happen. Sometimes they are big. Like not reconciling with a family member before their death. Sometimes they are small. Like not buying that jacket when it was on sale. And sometimes they are really small. Like not ordering a McFlurry with your drive through order.
And they come in many forms. Regret for doing something. Regret for not doing something. And the wondering of what if.
Either way, I think it’s impossible to live a life without regrets.
When you look up regret on Google you get a wide variety of results ranging from tattoos, break ups and children to shoulder surgery, plantation shutters and buying Halo 2. I don’t really know what that last one is about, but I have suffered buyers remorse, so I guess I can relate.
I regret not working on my blog in the early days
You might not know this, but I started this blog back in 2014. I was too scared to tell anyone about it (hello fear of judgement) and was petrified someone I knew might come across it. And while I thought I was putting a good amount of effort into it, I really had no idea what I was doing. I wrote about anything and everything.
So I wish I had have learned more about what was involved. I wish I put more time into figuring it all out. I did originally start this blog to make money. But after 5 years I had made exactly $0.
I regret not enrolling in EBA when I first came across it
I believe I came across Elite Blog Academy in its second year, which I think was 2015. And oh how I am kicking myself now! Back then it was around US$200, which I thought was way too much.
Each year when enrolment opened I’d seriously consider it, but the price just kept going up and up and up each year.
But finally decided to take my blog a little more seriously in 2019. And I decided to join a mastermind group. And I chose Kim Anderson’s Treks to Blog Success program.
I regret being a tight-ass on Contiki
In 2011 I went on a solo trip to Europe for six weeks. And during that time I went on a three week Contiki Tour. I can’t remember how much money I took with me for my whole trip, but I came back with quite a lot.
I could have spent more money on food and drinks, but I just didn’t value the experience that those things could provide back then.
I regret not buying a leather jacket in Florence
When people talk about their regrets, this is the main one that comes to my mind. But now that I’ve taken the time to really think about it, more things have come to mind.
I guarantee that it wouldn’t fit me now, but I do wish I bought a leather jacket in Florence while on Contiki. I saw a beautiful light blush coloured one but I didn’t even stop to look at the price tag. I knew it would be at least €400.
But like I said, it probably wouldn’t fit me anymore. So I would regret dropping that kind of money on a jacket that I can’t wear anymore.
I regret not working on more during lockdown(s)
I could have done so much more during all of the lockdowns I have experienced in recent years. I could have made great leaps and bounds when it came to my blog. I also could have spent more time exercising and improving my yoga practice.
But I knew that I needed to focus on my mental health and do what I could for my family during that time.
I regret not quitting my job sooner
I think I quit my job at the right time, but there are plenty of times I could have and should have quit earlier. And I had plenty of other job offers, that in hindsight I maybe should have taken.
But I was too scared.
I was scared I’d be leaving a good job for a worse job.
I was lacking confidence in my ability to do or learn how to do anything else. And if I’m honest I’m still lacking a lot of confidence in my own ability.
I regret not making more of an effort with friendships during high school
I always used to complain to my husband about my lack of female friends. He said to just wait until our children are at school and that I’d make friends with the other school mums. But I wasn’t about to wait that long.
Sure I had friends growing up. But I don’t think I was ever anyone’s best friend. I had best friends, but they were already closer to someone else.
Now I have an amazing group of friends. Our kids are all friends. And it really is the best thing ever. But we weren’t always this close. It all happened after I hosted our first girl’s night.
I regret not trying to study harder in high school
In my final year of school, I did an unusual combination of subjects. I took English, General Maths, French, Chemistry and Physical Education. And I really wish I tried harder.
I’m not sure if trying harder and studying more would make a difference in my ENTER score (Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank). Different scores were required to get into different courses. For example, pharmacy and optometry required scores in the 90s. I got nowhere near that. And I think I didn’t try hard enough because I had no idea what I wanted to do.
I’m in my 30’s now and still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up!
I regret spending so much time caring about what others may or may not think of me
This is kinda a hard one for me to admit. I have spent so much of my life not being myself because I’m worried about what people will think of me.
It’s something that I still really struggle with. But that has started to change since having my daughter. I want to show her how to be confident, how to be silly and how to have fun.
I also think having a group of fun-loving friends has also helped. Because I know they aren’t judging me. And even if they are judging me, they have the guts to say so.
I regret reading books that I didn’t really enjoy
I cannot tell you the number of books that I have finished reading even though I didn’t enjoy them. I also managed to amass a list of over 200 books on my to-read list just because I thought I should read them. And I thought that I should read them because I like to read.
I thought that everyone that liked to read had read the likes of Jane Austen, Ernest Hemingway, Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, and Leo Tolstoy.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve read a few books written before 1980. But I just struggled with the language. But now I have learned to stop reading a book if I don’t like it.
You also shouldn’t read books that you think you should read because you like reading.
I regret not spending more time outside
Some days I kinda wish I was a smoker. Lame, right?
If you have any friends who smoke, you will know that they spend most of their time outside just to have a cigarette. And that friend you have that smokes? You spend most of your time outside when you go to their house because they spend most of their time outside smoking.
But lucky for me, this is something that I can change. I still have plenty of time to spend outside. I just think I need to make my outside area at home a bit more appealing.
I regret not feeding my daughter more meat as a baby
When my daughter first started solid foods, I barely ever gave her meat.
And it was because I was lazy.
And I think it has come back to bite me in the bum. Now that she is five years old, it has been quite difficult to introduce her to some foods. I think perhaps we should have opted for baby-led weaning instead of providing pureed foods.
I regret not sharing my about my infertility
I have a whole post about the things that I regret from my IVF journey.
I didn’t want to share it with my friends let alone anyone else.
But infertility affects so many people, including several of my close friends.
It was so isolating with no one besides my husband to share my thoughts with. And I know he got sick of hearing about it.
I know my friends probably didn’t know what to say. But sometimes all you need is someone to listen.
In the end, you live and learn. I’ve been able to learn from all of these regrets. And I know that I wouldn’t be where I am today if these weren’t regrets.
Plus there is still plenty of time for me to work on things that I still want to accomplish.
And for the most part, I’ve let go of the regret I held about a lot of these.
