Regret Essay

As I read Bonnie Wares article 5 Top Regrets of the Dying, I felt having regrets would be a normal part of the dying process, I think most people when they are faced with death or know they are close to dying look back on their life and wish they had done things differently. I believe most people experience regret throughout their life from a young child to your last days. While regret can bring us feelings of guilt, anger, or sadness, regret also helps to keep us honest, reevaluate the situation that made us feel regret and how can we handle the situation differently, push us to strive for something better. So what is regret? Regret is a feeling of sadness, repentance, or disappointment over something that has happened or been done. Majority of people experience or feel some kind of regret, in one study of 11 people only 3 people said they felt no regret, the other 103 participants in the survey provided example of regret they had experienced and the average participant provide 6 statements of regret when interviewed (Isenberg,

For men, the number area that wish they had spent more time on, accounting for 62.9% of men surveyed was worrying about their job to much, other main types of regret among men include: not taking care of their physical health, studying in school, pursuing an education and for women, 71.1% of the participants wish they had spent more time developing their mind or intellect, other regrets for women included: pursuing their education, understanding more about themselves, and studying in school (DeGenova, 1996). Other key areas among all participants were: made important choices differently (84%), gone for a higher level of education (70%), spent more time with good friends (66%), had the courage to be more spontaneous (65%), tried harder in school (63%), felt less responsible for other peoples' happiness (62%), and sought out more new experiences