Yahoo Lifestyle "I Regret This Decision Every Day": People Are Sharing The Things They Are Absolutely Leaving Behind In 2024
It's that time again! Many of us are looking back at 2024 and deciding on resolutions for next year.
So, we recently asked the BuzzFeed Community which regretful mistakes they're leaving in 2024. Here's what they said:
1."I’m leaving my narcissistic, abusive husband in 2024. I’m not walking into my apartment another year after working all day to see him sitting on the couch playing video games in the same spot he was when I left for work! He only worked three months this year before getting fired and hasn’t even bothered to look for a new job. Not living another year like this!"
—Anonymous
2."Not setting and enforcing boundaries, especially with family. It can be really hard to intentionally acknowledge when someone close to you violates a boundary, especially when it’s been occurring for a while. For me, it was gaslighting behaviors and comments, or gestures that set the expectation that I need to tolerate trauma triggers in order to keep the peace in the family and not inconvenience anyone else. With the help of therapy and lots of time, patience, and self-compassion, I won’t be allowing others to violate my boundaries next year."
—Anonymous
3."I spent way too much money this year. Yes, rent increased, groceries cost more, and life in general is super expensive — can't do much about that. But I also splurged on things like trying a bunch of new skincare products and food delivery. I had to dip into my savings to buy Christmas presents, so I'm really frustrated with myself. In 2025, I'm determined to do better."
—Anonymous
4."I’ve had such a harsh temper and yelled a lot, sometimes to the point where my voice hurt. I hope that 2025 will give me a fresh start."
5."I regret trying to start a 'relationship' with an ex, thinking he might have matured over a period of three years (we have an age gap of eight years; I am older). But no, I guess I'll always be older and wiser. Complete waste of time. Leave the past in the past."
—Anonymous
6."Not taking better care of myself and my overall health and well-being (mental, emotional, and physical). That's definitely something I'm aiming to change."
7."I’m leaving behind toxic family drama and toxic people! You can only put up with so much negativity from emotionally immature and just generally immature people! It’s exhausting trying to figure out how some people seem to go out of their way to take things personally just to stir up trouble and drama. That’s a hard way to live your life."
"I made a choice a long time ago that people’s bad attitudes have nothing to do with me, and it’s completely unnecessary to think that they do. Everyone has their struggles, all the time, every day. I wish everyone the best with their future positive endeavors!!!"
—Anonymous
8."I'm dedicated to getting more sleep like never before. I found out I have a predisposition for neuro issues later in life, so my best defense is taking care of my brain with sleep."
9."I have a terrible sense of direction and get anxious when driving somewhere new (yes, I have GPS, I'm still anxious). I talked myself out of going on solo road trips and driving in unfamiliar cities simply because what if I get lost?! So for 2025, I'm going to jump in the deep end and plan a solo road trip from Illinois to Yellowstone National Park. The best part? There's a small local highway (RT14) that goes all the way there. I figure even I can't get too lost if I just stay on the same road for about 1,400 miles!"
—Anonymous
10."I had a friend for a few years who was a huge mental burden. She was always gossiping about her other friends (and therefore probably about me, too), in a fight with someone, or had some drama going on. I was expected to be there for her 24/7, or I was a jerk, even though I was going through the worst year of my life. In mid-2024, she got mad at me for telling her my opinion about something, even though she already knew that it was my opinion. We stopped talking. I regret becoming her friend and giving her all of those years, but the new year feels like a fresh start."
—Anonymous
11."Trying more with my casual hookup and seeing how much more we can do together."
—Anonymous
12."For years, I've agreed to live in a dead-end town to make my family happy. I'm 38 years old, and there's a long history of Alzheimer's in my family — I have 20 good years left, and I'm going to start living for myself for once. I've been saving for months to move. Half my house is packed up, and I've sold a lot of stuff. Just waiting on a job at the new location, and I'm gone."
13."I left my friends behind because I cared too much about what other people thought. I've been making amends with them, but it's never going to be the same. I regret this decision every day."
—Anonymous
14."I got into some political fights with my conservative family members this year. Going no contact isn't an option for me (though I don't judge other people for doing so). In 2025, I'd like to avoid political discussions with them. None of us are going to change our minds, so it just causes stress and heartache. Next year, I want to focus on what is in my control (donating, contacting congresspeople, etc)."
—Anonymous
15.And finally, "I'm a perfectionist, so I've always found a way to diminish my accomplishments because, in my opinion, I don't deserve any credit. In 2023, I became a PhD student, and for the first time, that really affected my self-esteem. I felt so behind (it was not exactly in my previous scientific area). The first half of 2024 was so annoying and frustrating — the harder I tried to do better, the worse I felt. My family was proud of me, my friends thought I was doing a great job, my professors would tell me I was very interested and hard-working, but all I could think was that I was a huge fraud about to be unmasked."
"And then something clicked: I would only succeed if I kept trying. It's stupid and even irrational to expect to be great at your first attempt. And suddenly, I realized I've been doing this to myself my whole life, expecting me to be outstanding at something I've never done before, which is ridiculous and pretentious.
So I've decided to trust a little more in the people around me and use their words as a motivation to keep going. I've written some articles that were terrible, and then some others that were not that bad. My last one actually got really good feedback. Maybe one day, I'll write a great piece, but I'm not in a rush. I've gotten nice results in 2024, but my biggest lesson was that I'm allowed to be stupid sometimes because if I keep working hard, I'll get there eventually. And most of all, if I can highlight all my flaws, I should feel free to appreciate my qualities as well. We human beings should be more open to that. Cheers to 2025!"
—Anonymous
Do you have any regretful mistakes you're leaving behind in 2025? Share them in the comments below.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
