ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
No doubt many of you are already concocting your New Year's resolutions for 2018. But before we move on from this year, we thought that we'd solicit a little self-examination from you. We asked you all, our listeners, to send in your 2017 regrets, the things you did or didn't do that have you wistfully looking back at the year that was.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "REGRET")
EVERYTHING EVERYTHING: (Singing) Regret. Regret. Regret.
GEORGE JEMPTY: This is George Jempty (ph) from Carrollton, Texas. And something that I regret from this past year is that when leaving the vet's office once with one of our cats, my wife pointed out a turtle that looked like it was about to walk into the middle of the road. And I was driving. And I wouldn't stop and pick it up and put it somewhere safe. And I feel really bad about that.
(SOUNDBITE OF EVERYTHING EVERYTHING SONG, "REGRET")
KRISTEN FREEMAN: This is Kristen Freeman (ph) from Dayton, Ohio. My regret for 2017 was that my best friend and I did not get a matching tattoo. What we wanted to get was the words emotionally magnificent tattooed on our arms because it's our favorite quote from Michael Scott's character on "The Office." We didn't get it because where grown-up women minds took over and decided that our $100 each could be better spent towards paying off some of our debt.
(SOUNDBITE OF EVERYTHING EVERYTHING SONG, "REGRET")
BRETT HORN: My name is Brett Horn (ph), and I live in St. Pete, Fla. The thing that I regret most in 2017 is that I did not complete my through hike of the Appalachian Trail. Before I had started, I had said that there were two things that could potentially get me off of the trail - falling in love and injury. By the time that I had hiked 500 miles and paddled a hundred and something more, I had found two flames - one in my heart ignited by a woman, and the other the intense pain on the outside of my right foot. Both ended up being rather fleeting, but neither were insignificant. I'm looking ahead at 2019, though. I'd like to give it another shot. I know I can make it to Maine. Otherwise, I'm afraid that it'll stay just that - a regret.
(SOUNDBITE OF EVERYTHING EVERYTHING SONG, "REGRET")
AISHA SULTAN: This is Aisha Sultan, columnist with The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. My biggest regret from 2017 is who I went to sleep with every night and who I woke up to every morning. That would be Twitter.
(SOUNDBITE OF EVERYTHING EVERYTHING SONG, "REGRET")
RACHEL KACHAKIS: Rachel Kachakis (ph), Lexington, Ky. I remember learning as far back as 2012 that the western portion of Kentucky was going to be the epicenter for viewing the total eclipse in the United States. And as time approached and I heard about all the places for lodging were being booked up, and all the money it was going to cost me, and did I really want to drive out about six hours to see this eclipse?
I saw 95 percent totality was in Lexington, so I thought surely that would be good enough. I could just stay right here and watch it with a friend of mine and my dog and not have to drive all the way out there. When it finally happened and the most coverage hit Lexington and I couldn't tell a difference - it looked, like, overcast, and you could only tell that there was an eclipse going on by looking at the projected image or looking through the glasses - I was so bummed.
(SOUNDBITE OF EVERYTHING EVERYTHING SONG, "REGRET")
BRIAN MCCONNACHIE: This is Brian McConnachie, and I write for the humor magazine The American Bystander. Among my regrets has been one of neglect, specifically failing to wave to people in speedboats who have been enthusiastically waving to me. And I'm afraid I'm not alone in this. If, indeed, we are people who are growing more divided, correcting this just might be the tonic that gets us all back on track. I really don't know the protocols of boat waving or if there even are such things. But I do know I don't want to be that guy lying on his deathbed, regretting, I should've waved to those people. They took the trouble. Would it have killed me?
If we're ever going to fulfill that pursuit of happiness clause, this might be a good place to start, with some good old-fashioned boat-on-boat waving. Get those arms going and take it right up to bordering on the deranged so they see you really mean it. I'm sorry I haven't acted on this before, and thank you for letting me get this off my chest.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "REGRET")
EVERYTHING EVERYTHING: (Singing) Regret.
SIEGEL: NPR listeners sharing their regrets from 2017.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NON, JE NE REGRETTE RIEN")
EDITH PIAF: (Singing in French). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.