Poems about Regret

Let these poems about regret remind you not to live a life full of regret. May the verses motivate you to continue to move forward and not look back with regret – life is too short!

Regret Today
Poet: Catherine Pulsifer, © 2007

How many times do we say something that
we immediately realized was not the right thing to say?
How many times do we look back
on an event and think, if only I had. . .
How many times do we do something
that we wish hadn’t done?

You can’t change what has been said.
You can’t change a past event.
You can’t change what has been done.

Do you call it regret, sorrow, repentance?
Do you think about what might have been?
Do you relive an event the way it should have been?

Forget about regret, and focus.
Focus on today, not on the past.
Focus on what you can do, not what you didn’t do.

The only thing to regret is living in the past
The only thing to feel sorrow for is not living each day to the fullest.
The only thing to do to repent is to sincerely say, I’m sorry.

Don’t live your life regretting yesterday.
Live your life so tomorrow you won’t regret today.

Live your life so
tomorrow you won't regret today. Catherine Pulsifer

Yesterday Is Gone
Poet: Grant Ngobean

Live for today, hope for tomorrow
And forget about yesterday
‘I CAN’T ‘ for those are the words of a coward
And remember ‘I WILL TRY’ for those
Are the words of a potential winner?

The only way you can regret yesterday is
When you’ve never learnt anything from it
And remember that what ever you worry about
It’s in the past, there is nothing you can change or do about it,
Just accept to choose to see
Yesterday’s problems as an opportunity to grow.

Worry is wasting today’s time
Cluttering up tomorrow’s opportunities
With yesterday’s trouble.
How many times do we look back on?
An event and think, if only I had…
How many times do we do something that we wish hadn’t done?
You can’t change a past event,
Its yesterday, you can’t change what has been done.

Do you call it regret, sorrow, repentance?
Do you think about what might have been?
Do you relieve an event the way it should have been?
Forget about regret and focus on today, not on yesterday.
Focus on what you can do, not what you didn’t do.

The only thing to feel sorrow for
Is not living each day to the fullest,
The only thing to repent is to sincerely say I’m sorry!
Don’t live your life regretting yesterday…
Live your life so tomorrow you won’t regret today.
It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks or say about you,
What really matters is what you think and say about your self…
Then what you do about it.

“Live free of regret and filled with as much
joy, fun, and laughter as you can stand.
You have a choice.”
Oprah Winfrey

Made A Million
Poet: Unknown

He always said he would retire
When he had made a million clear,
And so he toiled into the dusk
From day to day, from year to year.
At last, he put his ledgers up,
And laid his stock reports aside;
But when he started out to live
He found he had already died.

“Don’t wait until retirement to live your life.”
Kate Summers

No Regrets
Poet: Agnes Sligh Turnbull

There is only one thing about which I shall have no regrets when my life ends.
I have savoured to the full all the small, daily joys.
The bright sunshine on the breakfast table;
the smell of the air at dusk;
the sound of the clock ticking;
the light rains that start gently after midnight;
the hour when the family come home;
Sunday evening tea before the fire!
I have never missed one moment of beauty,
not ever taken it for granted.
Spring, summer, autumn, or winter.
I wish I had failed as little in other ways.

“If you don’t figure out what is at your core,
what you stand for, and what ultimately motivates you,
you’ll always second-guess yourself.
You’ll always have regrets.
Uncover your core values and use them as a template
to test decisions in your life.”
Jim Hayhurst, Sr.

We All Make Mistakes
Poet: Kate Summer, © 2017

We all make mistakes
and we all do dumb things
But never doubt you have what it takes
You let the experiences bring
New knowledge and wisdom
To help us succeed
As long as we are learning it’s not dumb.
Looking back in regret is not what you need.

So don’t live in regret
Don’t be sad
Remember experience you get
Don’t look back thinking it was bad.
Life is to short
to live with regret
To stay in a regret port
Learn and move on you will be better yet!

“Don’t allow yourself to become one who, nearing death, regrets what you might have done if only you had taken a few risks We each have a purpose in life.”
Gillian Stokes

Have you ever been parted from the one you love so dear?
Have you felt so desperately alone?
That all the crowd around you could not fill that awful void;
Nor anything you see or what you own?

Though money fills your coffers and fame has come your way,
And anything you want lies at your feet,
Though many people serve you and others stand in awe,
Yet all of this has not made life complete.

You spent your life amassing the fortune that you own,
And never noticed life was slipping by.
Too many office hours, too many nights away,
Your love was gone, your heart was hard and dry.

All the family suffered, for you could never find
The time to see the precious love you shunned.
Now the truth has surfaced, you can’t retrace your steps,
You never put a thought into that fund.

Your life was for ambition, your time had no reserve,
Your family stepped aside; you had your way.
But now you reap the harvest, a loner with your wealth,
A stark reminder that you’ll face each day.

For you I have compassion, your dreams are shattered, gone,
Too late you realized the things you missed.
It wasn’t fame and fortune but love you trampled on,
So much at stake and you could not resist.

Perhaps you’ve learned your lesson, perhaps you’ve seen the light,
Perhaps you’re ready now to make amends.
You need a transformation and God’s the One to seek,
It’s there that joy begins and misery ends.

“If you want to have no regrets in life, you will ask older and wiser people to share the best lessons they’ve learned so you can use them in your life.”
Farima Joya, 20 Life Lessons for Your 30s

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