is it better to...

[tinymonkeyt]

regret not doing something
or regret doing?
(in your opinion)

IMO, i'd rather regret not doing it
i have a hunch others will think differently
its just cuz i think if you regret doing something, then your the kind of person whos a risk taker
and if you regret not doing it, its more like your a "better safe than sorry" person
well, thats my two cents.
im more on the safe side

 

[Bob Evil]

Never regret any decision you make ... even if it was a terrible decision.

Better to spend the energy on repairing damage you have done, than to spend it on beating yourself up.

 

[fischju]

Go for it, always.

 

[Bob Evil]

Go for it, always.

They said, "Go for it!" ... so, I went for it ... but, it had gone.

 

[Ace Gunman]

It's always better to have regret something you've done, given the alternative. Because at least you'll know you did it, and how it turned out. There's nothing worse than regretting something you haven't done, as the "what if" will haunt you for the rest of your days.

 

[moozxy]

I think regretting not doing it is better, since whenever I do something I regret I spend a lot of time, whenever I'm not doing anything, just thinking about it, going over the scene over and over, wondering why I ever did it, it takes a long time for me to forget something I regret.
However I find that if I miss out on something I regret it a little but I always think, well I'm young, I have the rest of my life to experience everything, and the opportunity will arise again.

 

[Costello]

I'm on the "better safe than sorry" side here.
But it all comes down to the situation, I guess.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

“Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?” -HST

 

[Ace Gunman]

“Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?” -HST

Blahblahblah, well met, good sir. That quote sums the question up perfectly.

 

[moozxy]

“Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?” -HST

Blahblahblah, well met, good sir. That quote sums the question up perfectly.

Meh not really, at this moment in time, the poll stands at 5 to 4 in favour for regretting not doing it. 3 of those people have identified themselves and told a good reason why.
And how do you compare your happiness now, to a happiness you could have hypothetically gotten if you had made a different choice earlier in life? Who's to say you could have saved yourself from a whole lot of unhappiness by not taking the risk?

 

[fischju]

“A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for.”

 

[Bob Loblaw]

“Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?” -HST

Blahblahblah, well met, good sir. That quote sums the question up perfectly.

Meh not really, at this moment in time, the poll stands at 5 to 4 in favour for regretting not doing it. 3 of those people have identified themselves and told a good reason why.
And how do you compare your happiness now, to a happiness you could have hypothetically gotten if you had made a different choice earlier in life? Who's to say you could have saved yourself from a whole lot of unhappiness by not taking the risk?

Oh, wow. 5-4 on an internet forum?

P.S. I like offtopic's ship quote btw.

 

[moozxy]

Fine I'll make up a saying..
"Who is the happier man, he who has risked all and lost everything? Or he who does not risk all but leads a calm and peaceful life by staying on the safe side"
-Moozxy 09.04.2008

 

[Bob Loblaw]

Fine I'll make up a saying..
"Who is the happier man, he who has risked all and lost everything? Or he who does not risk all but leads a calm and peaceful life by staying on the safe side"
-Moozxy 09.04.2008

This is an illegitimate quote because when taking a risk, you know you are taking a risk and could lose everything and, on the other side of this, could gain everything.

You could give up an opportunity to fly to the moon because of fear of the rocket failing and crashing and decide to stay safely home where the next day you could choke on a grape and die anyway.

 

[fischju]

"To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself."

"When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap."

"Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first."

"Yes, risk taking is inherently failure-prone. Otherwise, it would be called sure-thing-taking."

"One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time."

 

[moozxy]

Hmm.. I guess.. Well just to straighten things out, I'm not as straight-edge as my replies make me out to be, I do take risks sometimes, but I guess my personality is to prefer not doing something and regretting not doing it.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

Hmm.. I guess.. Well just to straighten things out, I'm not as straight-edge as my replies make me out to be, I do take risks sometimes, but I guess my personality is to prefer not doing something and regretting not doing it.

Definitely. It's a normal personality trait. It also has to do with risk gain/loss evaluation. Like, I won't go on a carnival ride and here's why;

Possible Gain: a couple minutes of sorta fun not really anything that great, probably feel sick after too

Possible Loss: Screw comes loose, ride breaks, I die/get paralyzed

It's not worth it.

If the possible gain was something greater like financial security for my family then, sure I'll hop on, hehe

It's all about evaluating what can be gained or lost.

 

[xcalibur]

Regretting something you never did is one of the worst feelings you could have IMO.
Whenever you regret something you did, you can always try to fix it.