No regrets, really?

It really bothers me when I see people on television or even when I hear people I know say they have no regrets in their life. It boggles my mind and I just simply cannot understand how someone can feel that way.

I can only speak for myself, obviously, but there are so many things in my life I wish I had done differently, so many situations I put myself through that caused me and those around me pain and so many times I even risk my life without any valid reason. I don't think I'm the only one out there who thinks this way.

Of course, those experiences made me who I am today and I am stronger because I went through all of it, but I honestly believe there's gotta be another way to learn, something other than "the hard way" and not always by making mistakes. Is it possible to look at someone else's life and say: Wow! I am never doing that!  or that did not work out for her? and truly take it into account next time we face a similar situation, or is this analysis a result of the fact that I am no longer in my early twenties and therefore I am smarter and because I messed up so many times I finally learn my lesson?

The one thing I appreciate about having had so many bad experiences is that nothing surprises me anymore, nothing really shocks me, I have acquired the ability to understand and even relate to the most amazing and sometimes even awful things people tell me. Maybe because I've been there myself or because I understand how a good person with a good heart is sometimes capable of doing something most people would describe as "despicable".

The thing is we are all human, and with time we should develop the strength to recover from almost anything. Every day, we are given the opportunity to become better people, more human and more compassionate. It is a never ending process and I am grateful for it.