So recently I was watching Yes Man, and you know when Carl sorrowfully reminisces about everything that happened with his ex and then goes home to watch TV and swathe himself in depression? Remember his regrets? The problems his break up with Stephanie gave him? (if the answer is no, well, sorry, but COME ON, it’s a Jim Carey classic.)
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I thought about my possible regrets when I get to his age, and then supposed maybe I could squeeze a blog post out of this? After chatting the idea over with friends and family, I came up with a list of possible regrets in order to stop you guys from making these mistakes. Don’t ever say I don’t care about y’all.
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“I regret losing my virginity to…”
Whilst researching for this post, it surprised me to find that this was the one thing most people regretted. You can’t change it, you can never take it back, you can’t undo it – if I avoid the sex ed and preaching, I guess that y’all should always just be completely aware and comfortable with what you do.
“I regret not travelling more”
This is one regret that I’m really, really, trying to avoid. It’s the #2 subject that most unworldly adults cringe away from.* Especially while you’re young, y’all have gotta go out there and see the world! Go live, go do stuff, go see stuff.
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“I regret that I didn’t appreciate/ see more of …. before they died”
Don’t take your loved ones for granted, it’s only too late when it’s too late.
“I regret not spending more time doing the things I love”
You know in The Notebook when Allie suddenly realises, I used to paint, I loved painting.. I don’t paint anymore, yes? Well now we live in an even more materialistic, consumeristic, capitalistic society, and it’s easy to forget the little things. Me? I’m like Penny from The Big Bang Theory – I’m not sure what my passion is, but I really, really hope to realise it soon (before I lose it, you know?).
“I regret staying in a bad relationship”
I like to think that I’d never do this, but I guess it’d be like those frog boiling metaphors – if you put a frog in lukewarm water and slowly turn it up, he’ll boil to death, but if you put him in already boiling water he’ll just jump out. Guys, just stop and think, yeah?
“I regret not learning another language”
Statistics show that the majority of adults regret this, and now say that it’s too late. Think, will you possibly regret not learning French? German? Welsh? If so, get yo ass over to Rosetta Stone now.
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“I regret not exercising more, think of how good I’d be looking now“
~Ignores the fact that I’m currently eating a rocky road and continues to write a massively hypocritical post~
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“I regret not quitting a terrible job/ working too much”
Again, more Yes Man material (if you haven’t seen it, question your love for Jim Carey – everyone has a love for Jim Carey). Scold your future self now, or regret it later.
“I regret not trying harder in school, not getting that degree”
For those of you who don’t know, I’m currently undertaking my GCSEs, and everyone’s saying to me that my next two years are the most important years of my life. I know that practically my whole ENTIRE future is based on my exam results, but recently I’ve been lacking the motivation to knuckle down and revise. However, the mere idea of me regretting this time, right here, right now, is pretty darn scary. So, hellooooo science revision.
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“I regret being afraid to say ‘I Love You’/ not holding on to that one special person”
How sad would this be though? We’ve all seen films like Yes Man ~cough~ and Wildchild – this regret is the basis in just so many films. My words to you? Don’t be a Carl.**
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“I regret neglecting my teeth”
Seriously guys, if you have a chance to fix your teeth, just do it. My primary school teacher lives this regret, every single day because she’d always brush only her front teeth and leave her back when she was younger.***
“I regret missing the chance to ask my grandparents questions before they died”
I’m actually trying to secure an interview with my nan about her time on Earth so far (done! click HERE), and would probably post it on this blog so she’ll be published on la internet. Most of you guys are bloggers, why not do something like that with your grandparents?
“I regret not spending enough time with my kids”
Aw. Just, aw.
Don’t do it.
“I regret not taking a leap of faith, a risk, in the hope that it’ll return an even better outcome – because hey, if not it’ll just be a great memory, e.g, let’s open a bar”
You know in How I Met Your Mother when Ted and Barney open Puzzles? No? Well the moral is, do things. Become a ninja and stuff.
“I regret not staying in touch with…”
Oops, my first regret. When I found myself dragged away from homeland Wales to live in the city of opportunity (London, ew), I spent a looong time away from my lifelong friends back home. Over the years, I managed to lose contact with them, and now that I’m 15 I have to say that I do kinda regret it a fair bit. When I recently wanted to go up to Wales to see FKG I realised I would have to stay somewhere else for a day to give FKG’s mom**** a break. My parents questioned where else I’d stay, when I realised I wasn’t close enough to any of my old friends anymore to suddenly propose I stay with them. ~sighs~
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Throwback to like 2010 – we were eleven sh – AW MEMORIES
“I regret not having more confidence”
I don’t think I’ll regret this, but a few people I spoke to about their regrets said this would be #1, even though they have no plans to change it. Guys, if you know you’ll regret it, why not work towards changing it now?
“I regret not burying that hatchet with…”
Ah, arguments. Created by Simon Cowell in 2009 on his 19th birthday, when his assistant brought him the wrong drink (it was a replica of Obama’s) – a pina colada, no less.
Kidding, kidding, ~cracks up laughing~ ~wipes away tear~ oh my I’m so funny.
But anyway, my parents told me to never go to bed angry, in case one of the arguing people*** never wake up. It’s a morbid thought, but has a helluva lot of smart behind it.
Step one: Imagine what you might regret when you’re old and grey.
Step two: Comment below.
Step three: Work towards fixing it now.
*A scientifically proven fact
(it isn’t)
**A Yes Man reference, once again.
***I swear I can English.
****Shh, let’s pretend I was born under the American flag.
i think one of my greatest regret will be: i regret not exercising more :/
and maybe not appreciating and living life to its fullest..and perhaps a whole lot more. ouch. never thought about what i'll regret in the future.
awesome reminder!
xoxo
This such a beautiful post Amy! And so encouraging!
thing I regret that I took international relations degree for 4 years but as you said science is revision 🙂 and even God has set things before I was born – so I won't regret. But I take it as lesson.
thanks for sharing your thoughts 🙂
have a wonderful day!
I'm thinking about studying for a year abroad in Baltimore in Maryland or Pasadena, CA but it means I have to take a different degree and I don't know whether I want to do a Msc in that subject or a Bsc in something really similar that I may enjoy more but only in the UK.
Also GCSEs suck but do ALL THE PAST PAPERS. If you do that you can get A*s more easily.
but ugh efforttttt, and i think you should study abroad because, hey, it just sounds more fun. but then again, i have no idea as to what msc and bsc type things are, so uh, i really don't know what i'm on about lol
MSc is the posh way of saying a masters in science so it's a four year course. A bsc is a regular degree in science which is three years 🙂