I was married for 12 years. I thought it was the right thing. Later, I determined it was not. I do not regret what I did, it was a good opportunity for me to develop more as a person.

Now...about that house I once purchased!

Jim

I regret not going back to college, after the kiddos were raised - felt I was too old and not smart enough. I'll regret it the rest of my life, because I didn't have the courage to go back.

Most recently with me, it was buying a recliner. l had looked all over town for a wall hugger and found 0 to few of them. I settled on one at a family business that has been here "forever." Long story short, I can't use the chair, because the lever is too hard to push and it has made my shoulder very painful. I did not know this was a "All Sales Final" store, so I am stuck with a chair I can't use. I didn't know there were any ASF stores anywhere any more. Yikes!

Sue

I guess I'm more likely to regret not taking advantage of an opportunity because I'm risk averse, especially in financial matters. If I try something and it fails, I consider it a life lesson and don't dwell on the failure at all. I try to make the most informed decision I can and then I don't look back.

It would be neat if you could live your life over again and try different paths. There's a book called Replay by Ken Grimwood that explores that premise in an interesting way.

I regret not finishing college. After high school, I lived at home and earned my Associate in Arts at the junior college. Then I started working and moved away. Over the years, I took a night class here and there and when I worked at a university I took more classes. I probably have another year of classes to get a bachelor's but I can't see spending all that money now that I am almost 72. Most of my friends just assume I have a degree.

I've played a mind game with myself about decisions. I 'decide' I am going to do X, but don't act on it immediately.Then I sleep on it. The next morning I think about whether I'm happy about my decision...or not. (Only good for one use per decision!)

Interesting that some of you say you regret not attending college.
College is so expensive now, and the jobs are still slim for "newly" educated people that it's almost not worth it.

I have no regrets..if I had done things differently I'm not sure I'd have the 3 boys, nor my spouse still.

I started college..and didn't make it past first quarter... I have zero desire to have a degree even now.

I'm a more act now figure it out later kinda person.

I can't think of a decision that I have made that I regret. If I look back and think about the possibility of changing a big decision.... I know the changes would reverberate and change the places I have been... the wonders I have seen, and the person I am.... and probably of those around me. That does not mean that I think I have had a perfect life; it does mean that ..... there is a balance there... and to want to change one thing, one would have to give up another..... and I selfishly want to keep all of it. The good....and, the not so good (because that is what makes the good, the best)

Not standing up for myself with my husband at times.. Now I do and it is a little difficult for the him. I have worked hard in this family too and I do have a say.. Yea, Susie!! I do love the guy but he's a bit too much like his Mom.

The problem with second guessing after making a choice is that you can never be sure how the "other choice" may have turned out. You can imagine that it would have been better, but most of the time in reality, it would not have been, due to unforseen circumstances. Of course, there are a few events that in hindsight, you can be fairly certain that the alternate choice would have been better, but in that case, remind yourself that you did the apparent right thing at the time, and now you have learned someting, and then get on with your life.

I don't think I've met one person who doesn't have some regrets...or played the what if game...it's just human nature...

I agree with terri, don't beat yourself up if you didn't attend college. It is not the miracle savior that it's made out to be. There are plenty of people with college degrees and tons of debt that cannot find good paying jobs. Often times the market is so saturated with college grads, there aren't enough jobs to go around. Basically, they have a lot of people brain washed into believing that if you get that college degree then you are SET...that simply is a big pile of BULL! There is a huge glut of teachers right now too. Unless you just get really lucky...don't even plan of becoming a teacher because there are almost zero jobs and thousands of people wanting the tiny few there are.

I try not to look back and have no regrets. I more or less let life take me where it wants, trusting that things mostly work out for the best.

Neither one! I make the best decision I can when I make it whether it was spur of the moment or carefully considered. I decided a long time ago to not beat myself over those things since so much is out of our control. It'd be like regretting the weather!

For this who regret not going back to school... ask yourself if you could do anything you wanted what would it be... does it invovle an education? My ex and I had this discussion many moons ago. He lacks one semester of his Master's but had done the rest, even his thesis and field work. It was an academic bs hoop and his employer paid him equivalent to that level of education. But, what he really wanted to do was buy used cars, fix them up, and sell clean, running cars cheaply to young couples. He was really happy doing that. Did it a few times. He would love to spend his life doing that. No education needed for that! So why bother? As a for instance. It calmed his mind and he made peace with himself. I have a similar story, but you get the gist.

Staying with the college discussion, I think I would have gotten my undergraduate degree in Nursing instead of Health Science. Years later I had a choice of grad school. Social Work ,or Orientation and Mobility (this is a small expertise where yo teach the blind to use a cane. At that time only four students were chosen per year and I was one of them.)

When I was conflicted about which to choose I was swayed by friends who urged me to go for MSW degree. I chose the MSW and to this day wish I would have chosen O&M.

MY DH did not go to college. He is a major success in his own right. Yet, when we are around college educated people he sometimes feels at a loss.

I have seen many people like the above posters who regret not graduating from college. If nothing else it does round you out a bit and gives you things to think about that you would never think about in everyday life. So the fact that you went to college really might be enough for the benefit!

It's true that in todays world kids are going into debt without job prospects. I think we will see a shift in how colleges will be run in the future.

Often what seems like a wrong decision at the time turns out to be the best one when we look back. Things seem to work out for the best.

I've always been a risk taker and so I do my homework and then make the best decision for me at the time. Have some of them been misses? Oh yeah but the plus column is soooo much longer. I really don't regret any, even the ones where I lost money. They made me look at life differently and, in the long run, it's been pretty good.

I agree about the college thing. DS didn't go to college, got married at 17, remarried and has a good job as supervisor at Rio Tinto mines in CA. DD got married while a Sr. in high school, declined her scholarship and is now Adm. of the local county health dept. where she lives.
Both of them have managed to have jobs nearly all the time they've been adults.

I don't regret my life, but probably would have changed a few things if I could have known what the future would hold, all in all I'm content, except for the darn cold weather right now. lol.

It has been said that we regret more that which we didn't do (probably because we always wonder what if) more than that which we did do.

It's said that the sins of omission weigh more heavily than those of commission. That fits well with the commandment that you...

...LIVE YOUR LIFE! (Think about what each word means, by itself, and in conjunction with the others.)

I just go with it. Once I've made a decision, I pretty much plow forward and don't look back.
Hubby agonizes over big decisions (buying a house, a vehicle, having to leave home to find work) until he is physically ill. Sick to his stomach, can't sleep, rambles, out loud and incessantly, about all the pros and cons (mostly about every possible scenario that can, or will, go wrong) it's emotionally draining for me and wears me out ... can't think of one thing, in 30 years, that was worth the anguish.
And, I left school in 8th grade. Ran away from home. Never went back. (To school or home). And have managed a law office for 23 years! Formal education is not the "be all, end all" for everyone.

I think it's fantastic how many of you and your family members have done well and found successful jobs without having been to college. How much better might those people have done with a college education? Those saying college isn't worthwhile seem to also be those who didn't go to college. Sounds like rationalizations.

There are many more reasons to go to college beyond occupational ones, though that's the bonus. I agree, not everyone should go to college but as an alternative, the trade school and trade apprenticeship programs in the US are pretty poor compared to what's done elsewhere.

College graduates with art and english degrees, and those living in less populated areas, will always face tough times in the job market. Not so those with more practical or advanced studies. And for those living in urban areas, many job doors only open for people with specific college preparation.

I spoke up snidely. I graduated in 2009 after attending, dropping out, attending part time, for 23 years. I don't work in my field of study AT ALL. And if I could do whatever I wanted it might entail a terminal degree and it might not. Mostly, I think you were assuming something you shouldn't since you haven't walked in our shoes and decided you knew. Without asking. I was only offering a different way to think about it. It is a piece paper. Even after I fought for decades to have it. Who I am was not gained from sitting a classroom.

I got a 2 year degree in CIT & IBM hired me right out of college. No regrets there...buuuuuuuuuuut then I should have taken the networking position, like my coworker did. She's now making a 6 figure salary and is still employed in her field....with no college degree or higher education at all.