For most of us, moving on after divorce is easier said than done. You may cut ties with your ex and embrace life on your own, but thoughts of what you could have done differently always linger.
Below, HuffPost Divorce readers share the biggest regret they have about their marriages, from walking the down the aisle in the first place, to giving decades of their life to their exes when they knew the relationship didn't stand a chance.
1. "I regret not realizing he was broken and that I couldn't fix him."
2. "My biggest regret? Staying seven years and giving my all because that's what I felt society expected of me. If both of us weren't going to give it our all, it was never going to work. The last five years of being on my own have been vastly better than all 14 years of my marriage."
3. "We got in a fight the night of our rehearsal dinner. Sometimes I regret not running out the door and never looking back. But if I had done that, I wouldn't have my two awesome kids. I guess that walk down the aisle was worth it after all."
4. "That I wasn't the husband that I have the full capability and potential to be."
5. " I should have left after he cheated on me the first time and not wasted so many years of my life with him."
6. "I regret all the red flags I ignored, beginning the day before the wedding when I didn't have the guts to call it off. I regret being too trusting, too optimistic and too serious about my vows to realize I was not in a a viable relationship."
7. "I regret looking past all the signs. I was so in love, I thought you gave without reservations. I gave up on me, my dreams, my passions, a whole life that I had planned so that he and our four kids could be happy. I got so accustomed to getting nothing in return, he started treating me like I was nothing. Only his wants were important in our marriage. I regret not realizing this was who he always was all because I was so blinded by love."
8. "That I lost who I was during the marriage because I was so focused on everyone else."
9. "That I allowed myself to get lost because I was trying to be the person he wanted me to be. Even after changing, I was never good enough, anyway. I'm so thankful I was able to break free and find myself again."
10. "I regret that we didn't wait longer before we got married. We were together less than a year before marrying. We didn't really take the time to get to know each other beforehand. Now I know that's essential."
11. "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to see the umbilical cord still attached to his mother. He may have seemed good for me at the time, but he wasn't right for me. I was young and naïve and should have demanded so much more from the marriage. That said, I have two boys from my marriage and I don't regret that."
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