What is Regret?

What is regret?  If someone asked me what my biggest regret was, I'd be tempted to say that I have none; Afterall, my life has been exactly what I've made of it. In its most simple form, however, regret just means "having a sense of sadness over something previously done".  Certainly I must feel that for something, mustn't I?

Truth be told, I have many little regrets:  not stopping to assist some ducks across the road, telling my first-grade teacher that I could count to 100 when I really could have counted ad infinitum, and not buying those shoes when they were on sale. 

My biggest regret is much more difficult to define.  Since we now know that I have at least one, I must have a "biggest regret."  That big regret has to be something larger than missing a great value on footwear.  In actuality, knowing myself, my biggest regret would have to be something to do with love.

Unfortunately, my most miserable experiences have brought me my most wonderful joys, so it's impossible for me to regret any of the bumps on the path that led to happiness.  Taken item for item, I wouldn't have traded any of the sucky moments knowing what they have brought me.  That's horribly depressing, because it means that my biggest regret actually *is* something like buying shoes at full price.  Gosh, now that I've said that, my biggest regret may be *not* having a big enough regret...I better work on that!