Poet John Betjeman regretted not having more sex when he was young, but according to a study by Neal Roese, never learning a foreign language, marrying the wrong person and going into the wrong profession are the most common regrets today.

Philip Hodson, Fellow of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, says that most people experience a process of regret as they go through life: "You tend to start with sorrow for the missed opportunity. But then reason comes to your aid - you were making your best decision at the time, given the information available and the personality you have inherited and I think this is the key to staying out of trouble with nostalgia."

Read the full story