“Regret is an example of a negative emotion that spurs people to problem-solving and personal betterment,” says Dr. Neal Roese, a leading researcher on regret and the author of If Only.One positive purpose of regret is to help us learn from our mistakes, gain insight, and cultivate hope for the future. It signals us to stop and evaluate. By inflicting discomfort and or distress, it grabs our attention and begs us to question, “What could I have done differently?” Fact is, no one likes to think about their blunders. Perhaps this is the reason why some people insist they never have any regrets. Nevertheless, that “coulda-shoulda-woulda” thinking is normal. It’s apparently wired into our neural structure.