Why can't they be opposed? All the regrets don't come from the same person.
Also, there's no rule that says they have to make sense. Regrets that people have on their death-bed are not necessarily imbued with a supernatural clarity.
I'm glad you pointed this out. We all know how easy it is to come up with ambitious New Year resolutions and not stick to them, even though they made complete sense at the time.
People on their death beds say stuff that belongs to the realm of New Year resolutions. It sounds easy to say that you wished you didn't work so hard, but when you get the opportunity to work a bit harder and get a nice cottage close to a lake where you can spend 1 month per year, it seems like working harder for 10 years is a good trade-off.
The point is that there are wonderful parts of life other than cottages on lakes, and while you're working harder for those 10 years you are to some extent missing out on those parts of life, because there are only 24 hours in a day.
While you're focusing on that one month at the cottage, those people on their death beds are reflecting on the other 11.
Also, there's no rule that says they have to make sense. Regrets that people have on their death-bed are not necessarily imbued with a supernatural clarity.