People were asked for their biggest regret and the response was amazing
Emma Freud asked people for their biggest regret on Twitter and has written about it in a piece for the Guardian.
A few of the answers will make you smile, a lot will make you sad, but they’ll definitely make you think.
It wasn’t just big in volume – more than 300 replies – but the tweets were devastatingly honest. I had casually asked a question that, surprisingly, a lot of people really wanted to answer. These were sad, sobering, enlightening responses – big stories told in 140 words to a stranger on a Saturday night. I don’t know why so many people had such strong regrets living so close to the surface – but by the end of the evening, I felt I might have learned more about life through what people regretted not doing, than through 55 years of being given advice about what to do.
1.
Taking far too long to realise that everyone else in the world is also imperfect and winging it – just like me.
— Susie (@LittleSyko) September 24, 2017
2.
Letting my fear of looking a fool stop me attempting new things.
— Wendy Bloom (@VimesFan) September 24, 2017
3.
that my mum died too young to see me turn from ungrateful, truculent teenager into a person and father I hope she’d be proud of
— Terry Payne (@TerryPayne_) September 24, 2017
4.
Not coming out sooner. Wasted years worrying about it
— Catherine Simms (@catkims) September 24, 2017
5.
Not calling my dad on my 30th birthday, the day before he suffered a massive brain injury. I called him every other birthday year.
— Sarah Loader (@SarahLoProducer) September 24, 2017
6.
Allowing depression and anxiety rule my life since teen years. Now 59 and taking serious steps to control it. Can’t waste any more time x
— Martin Ellison (@eightbass) September 24, 2017
7.
Taking 27 years to get my first cat(s)
— Amanda T (@inmy_tree) September 24, 2017
8.
I used to worry about keeping up appearances but when I had a crisis ppl were so supportive. S**t happens to everyone!!
— Elizabeth (@lincs_farmer) September 24, 2017
9.
I was too scared to risk failing at something I loved doing, so I succeeded at something I had no passion for.
— JoyAnn Jenkins (@fearlessjoy) September 27, 2017
10.
Being scared all the time
— Susie (@Susan1Fulcher) September 24, 2017
11.
That I never stayed in Germany with the woman who adored me
— dawn (@dawnshiell) September 25, 2017
12.
Only having one child. My brothers are a big part of my life. My daughter won’t experience that, and it’s my fault.
— Amy Coop (@theamycoop) September 25, 2017
13.
Not flying on Concorde to New York with Lionel Richie. He wanted to take me for dinner. I was working. #muppet
— ClareAshford (@ClareAshford) September 24, 2017
14.
I could say not losing weight,career choices,relationships ..but I think its not letting people know how much they meant to me when I could.
— Suzy Bennett (@FunnySuzyB) September 24, 2017
15.
That it took an incurable cancer diagnosis for me to learn respect for myself, realise who my true friends were and lose the toxic ones.
— Emily Sarah Wang (@EmilySarahWang2) September 24, 2017
16.
Regretting that it took me 47 years to become who I really am.
— Daniel Fama ⚧ (@CatDadDan) September 24, 2017