TheaterFire

GenX, if you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?

Posted by 0Ring-0@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 703 comments

Is it a regret that you’ve been carrying a long time?

Reply to Post

703 Comments

SashaPurrs05682@reddit

Going to an expensive and academically rigorous college… for a degree in Creative Writing (with minors in Art and Psychology. Just in case.)! Trying to make it “work” with narcissistic (and evil) parents. Losing touch with friends (and myself) during my 20s. Keeping nice guys in the friendzone, while dating and eventually having a child with misogynistic assholes who never appreciated me, or even really liked me. Never being in a band past high school. Giving up trying to find my tribe.
View on Reddit #12802285

coldbrewedsunshine@reddit

i would have the self-confidence to pursue the arts in college. would change the entire trajectory of my life, my mental health, my sense of self. even if i wasn’t better off financially, i believe i’d be happier.
View on Reddit #10444176

SashaPurrs05682@reddit

Do it now.
View on Reddit #12801457

coldbrewedsunshine@reddit

i’m a single mom with a beautiful son who has a terrible genetic disorder for which there is no cure. sometimes, you just have to let stuff go.
View on Reddit #12802127

TCKGlobalNomad@reddit

Stay in Europe for university, and pick a useful degree. *sigh*
View on Reddit #10407178

SashaPurrs05682@reddit

Yes. This.
View on Reddit #12801809

Icy-Veterinarian942@reddit

I would be kinder to myself. For so long I pushed myself and was worried about keeping others happy while neglecting myself.
View on Reddit #10383910

BelligerentModerate@reddit

Yeah. I've been a "rule follower" my entire life - play fair, do what's right, treat people fairly, etc. The facts of the matter are that our society doesn't really value those things. Play to win - no one questions the winners anyway. And people don't care about fair. They just want their own piece of the pie. And they would rather hear lies that make them happy than truths that hurt their feelings. All sad but true.
View on Reddit #10422807

AlphaWolf@reddit

There is a way to be true to your own values, while treating others fairly. That is the best we can do. But one can get a rude awakening living and working with people who see life as a zero-sum game. They win, everyone else has to lose. Almost impossible to avoid those people, and society encourages this in so many subtle ways. Everything is a competition. Not something I was prepared for after college at all. Hard lessons.
View on Reddit #10451471

KnivesOut21@reddit

Which is ironic because of your user name. 😎I agree with you btw. Just look at much of our entertainment especially in the last 20 years. Cupcake wars, gladiators, survivor, naked island, house wives etc…
View on Reddit #10818611

AlphaWolf@reddit

That user name causes so much grief at times haha.
View on Reddit #11882819

KnivesOut21@reddit

Ya some dolt commented on mine for being aggressive…it’s is the name of a great movie. 🍿
View on Reddit #11884558

AlphaWolf@reddit

Ha!
View on Reddit #11947733

Plum_violets@reddit

I value those things completely! Thank you for who you are!
View on Reddit #10429486

AlphaWolf@reddit

I feel that. Did the same.
View on Reddit #10451306

labeleduncurable@reddit

Yep.
View on Reddit #10426535

newwriter365@reddit

I’m in therapy for this right now. Twenty five years later than I should have been.
View on Reddit #10388444

Fabulous_Category_32@reddit

Same. Better late than never, right?? Hope it’s helping
View on Reddit #10416191

newwriter365@reddit

Thanks. It’s incredibly helpful. I met up with the family therapist we were seeing when I was married. She’s given me some excellent insight into why the marriage was never going to work. It’s been a very good.
View on Reddit #10416480

Due_Society_9041@reddit

Same. After six kids, I can finally start to focus on me and my poor mental health. After lots of counselling, I am feeling less anxious, stressed and like myself more. I am probably the healthiest I have ever been mentally.
View on Reddit #10401785

VeterinarianOk9199@reddit

This is me so much.
View on Reddit #10393898

SuperCookie22@reddit

I feel this so hard
View on Reddit #10387210

okwitches@reddit

Probably go to prom. We hung out around the prom. We were just too cool.
View on Reddit #10728417

yaymonsters@reddit

I would have shot Newt Gingrich when I could predictably be in the same room with him.
View on Reddit #10572359

veteacarajo@reddit

Regrets? what are those... shit... reboot with all my knowledge intact. hahaha.
View on Reddit #10563805

--Edog--@reddit

Focused on a career that paid more money, and was more selective about who I married.
View on Reddit #10478204

FlawedWoman@reddit

I would have never married my exe. 20 years of hellish abuse and I'm so glad that I'm finally free. The biggest regret of my life! And yes, I stayed for the kids. I stayed because I thought that's what a good wife does. I stayed because my exe got cancer and I felt guilty for wanting to leave. I stayed because I felt like I deserved every bit of it. That it was all I was worth. I hid the truth from everyone. I made all the excuses. I did all the stupid typical things so you can judge me if you want. Most people do. I lost literally everything and everyone. My kids hate me and won't speak to me. My daughter, the oldest, especially. Why? Well because I destroyed the family home when I finally said no more to the abuse, of course. The day I moved out was on my birthday of last year and I drove away with bruises covering my arms. I was crying almost hysterically as I drove but I drove as far and as fast as I could. I got pulled over, when the officer saw me and asked if I was ok I just unloaded and all the words come out and for the first time I told someone everything and just continued to fall apart. Instead of punishing me he said he was os sorry to hear about it and offered to give me an escort to my new place. I accepted and he walked me to my door and made sure I was safe. I'll never forget that kindness. I've been out just under a year and I'm trying my best to learn to live again. So yeah... ever trusting and loving my exe and getting married is the one and only thing I think I would change. It will always be my biggest regret.
View on Reddit #10477968

Admirable_Beyond_582@reddit

Joined the Marines
View on Reddit #10476316

jennthya@reddit

I would have never begun talking to my ex. I was with him for 20 years and he was an abusive addict/alcoholic. I tried leaving once when my kids were young and he told me that his family would make sure I lost custody of my children if I divorced him. His family had money and I was terrified they would take my kids. I haven't spoken to him in 8 years, since the day we signed the divorce papers. Our kids (who are both adults) haven't spoken to him in 6 years because of his behavior and choosing drugs over having relationships. I just wish I'd never given him a chance.
View on Reddit #10474419

CitizenChatt@reddit

Joined the Navy out of high school.
View on Reddit #10473401

Sintered_Monkey@reddit

When I was halfway through college, I decided that I didn't care how much I made, but I had to do something really interesting for a living. 30+ years later, I'm wondering if I just should have taken the path to the most money and left "really interesting" for hobbies. Because I'd be retired right now and enjoying interesting hobbies full-time.
View on Reddit #10383612

JuicyApple2023@reddit

This is why I should have become a plumber… Hobbies can always wait.
View on Reddit #10406526

mofomeat@reddit

The only thing about working in trades like plumbing, HVAC or construction is that the work stays hard but your body doesn't.
View on Reddit #10450985

JuicyApple2023@reddit

Yeah, I know. Very good point. I really should have skipped college and gone to nursing school.
View on Reddit #10468785

ShutYourDumbUglyFace@reddit

I picked my major because I knew I would make money at it. I hate it. That said, until the last probably 10 years I had no idea what I might actually WANT to do. Now I have golden handcuffs and do not have the skills to parlay into what I might actually enjoy. I guess the point is, no one has any clue what they want to be when they grow up. Even when they grow up. Money definitely helps make your life comfortable, but that doesn't make it good or fulfilling.
View on Reddit #10389625

JustABizzle@reddit

When it comes to career choice, you can only pick two: -good money -fun -legal
View on Reddit #10392725

herselfnz@reddit

Mine’s only one of those. Help!
View on Reddit #10438087

Sintered_Monkey@reddit

The ironic thing is that when your career is creating fun for other people, it isn't so fun anymore. It's just another job.
View on Reddit #10409923

DaisyJane1@reddit

My parents told me they'd pay for two years at the local community college, but only if I majored in one of three things -- medical transcription, education or secretarial science. They said I needed a solid career to support myself, and those were fields good for women. I wanted to be a journalist and columnist, preferably like Lewis Grizzard (google him if you're not familiar). I gave in and got an associate's degree in secretarial science. I worked in offices for 10 years, then an opportunity opened up to apply for a newsroom position at my local paper. I got the job, which I did for 12 years. I wrote feature stories and a column. My dream had come true! Did I care that the pay wasn't great? No. Being able to wake up on Monday morning not dreading going to work was much more valuable.
View on Reddit #10395386

SubmissiveFish805@reddit

The chili dogs always bark at night. 😂
View on Reddit #10405697

DaisyJane1@reddit

That's right! My favorite title of his is "They Tore My Heart Out and Stomped That Sucker Flat." Lewis was a gem. I miss him so much.
View on Reddit #10421111

SubmissiveFish805@reddit

I was actually traveling through Atlanta one time and saw The Varsity hot dog restaurant and actually brought home a can of The Varsity chili because of that book. Actually still have the wrapper of the can.
View on Reddit #10436670

Odd_Consequence_6044@reddit

Former journalist here. My 17 years writing and editing were the best. I quit before my newspaper died (ads gone, no revenue stream for a mid-sized weekly). Every other job I’ve had has been boring and not fulfilling compared to being a journalist. I miss it every day. It ruined me -
View on Reddit #10414556

DaisyJane1@reddit

I sadly was permanently laid off due to budget cuts cos of low advertising revenue. My boss, the editor, also got laid off that day. I'm a dialysis patient and can't work now, but if I could I don't think I'd go back. They've cut back to four days a week instead of daily. The newsroom is practically empty. How journalists get treated by public now is horrible, too.
View on Reddit #10421011

ShutYourDumbUglyFace@reddit

I grew up poor... it informed my decision to "make money" more than a little bit. I wish I hadn't been so concerned about how much I was going to earn because I might have broadened my horizons a bit and perhaps ended up doing something I like more.
View on Reddit #10411838

-DethLok-@reddit

I retired 2 years ago and *still* don't know what I want to do when I grow up! :(
View on Reddit #10425810

charlottathefourth@reddit

I am surprised I had to scroll down this far. This is my regret too. I wish I had graduated college and gone straight into a high-paying job. So many of us felt that would be “selling out” or something. In 2023 it kind of feels like the joke is on us.
View on Reddit #10429620

honeybadgergrrl@reddit

You never would have had time or energy for your hobbies.
View on Reddit #10402823

Sintered_Monkey@reddit

Maybe, but after pursuing my passions and my "interesting" career, I have had to work 80 hour weeks at times. And there was one day that I worked a 23-hour day. I showed up for work at 7AM and left at 6AM. Another day I worked for 20 hours straight. On salary with no overtime.
View on Reddit #10415608

honeybadgergrrl@reddit

I mean, that's how it could have potentially been in a whatever other job you might have had, and you wouldn't be doing what you set out to do. I'm just speaking as someone who gave up on the thing I really loved doing for something more "normal," and I never ended up doing that thing ever again.
View on Reddit #10416054

Sintered_Monkey@reddit

Without revealing too much about yourself, what was it that you wanted to do?
View on Reddit #10417998

honeybadgergrrl@reddit

Theater. Specifically, directing and stage management.
View on Reddit #10420854

cremains_of_the_day@reddit

Not long after college, I decided I wanted to make money. That worked out well for a while, but then I had a kid and left the workforce for a few years. Never really got back to where I’d been professionally, so maybe you made the right choice? 🤷🏼‍♀️
View on Reddit #10387677

Sintered_Monkey@reddit

Yes, the problem with careers is that you don't really get a do-over. You'll never know what could have been. I know people who didn't go to college at all who make twice as much as I do. I realize that they're the exception rather than the rule, though.
View on Reddit #10394654

your_city_councilor@reddit

It took me way too long to learn how to be a good boyfriend. I went out with women who were absolutely wonderful, but, though I never cheated or was abusive or anything like that, I didn't treat them right. After a couple of years, each of them broke up with me. Then, when I figured things out, I was absolutely perfect to a woman who was absolutely terrible. We got engaged; she broke it off just before the wedding. So, how far in time can I go backwards? Just after high school? I'd be a better boyfriend to the girl I went out with then, who has been married for decades to the guy she went out with shortly after me. A couple decades? I'd be better to the girl I was living with. Only about 10 years? I'd make sure not to meet the woman who dumped me just before the "altar" (not Christian, so not really an altar, but, it's a saying).
View on Reddit #10464614

ne-humanus-crede@reddit

I wouldn't do this all over again. I would choose oblivion over having to live my life a second time.
View on Reddit #10381796

old_leech@reddit

When the concept of the eternal return gained some popularity due to the HBO show True Detective, I groaned. Not because I was looking down my nose at "tourists" latching onto a new concept but because that concept literally fuels existential horror in me. I feel as though I grok what this experience is supposed to be a meditation on (for me); it's loss and the myriad of consequences it has on the soul and the way it impacts and changes one's path. Whatever it is I've learned can filter into the aether and the universe can file it however it chooses. Once around the block is enough. I do not want any more.
View on Reddit #10462186

newwriter365@reddit

That’s how I feel about high school. I never understood the appeal.
View on Reddit #10388037

mammakatt13@reddit

It should be legal to punch anyone who says that high school is the best years of your life.
View on Reddit #10388829

mofomeat@reddit

Anyone who says that probably peaked in high school.
View on Reddit #10451157

luckylimper@reddit

Only good thing from high school is I met my lifelong friend and my body was amazing. Literally nothing else would be worth repeating.
View on Reddit #10429570

Keppoch@reddit

For some people with whatever they value in their lives, it could be their best years. That would be sad though.
View on Reddit #10393260

Fish-x-5@reddit

It was probably true for a lot of people before us.
View on Reddit #10423578

Excusemytootie@reddit

High school being the “best years of my life” is an extremely depressing thought.😂
View on Reddit #10400218

Jeheh@reddit

Look we found Al Bundy.
View on Reddit #10396080

Dr_Girlfriend_81@reddit

Best years of my life, no. But I did have fun and look back fondly on that time. Middle school, however, was a nightmare.
View on Reddit #10395928

jrysenga@reddit

It is for some, but that just means they peaked in high school.
View on Reddit #10394821

newwriter365@reddit

While I don’t believe that violence is the answer, I agree.
View on Reddit #10389043

Excusemytootie@reddit

High school was so hard but gd I’d love to do it over and not cower to bullies. I’m ASD and was bullied by so many girls. I didn’t have the first clue how to deal with it then.
View on Reddit #10400147

scarybari@reddit

I'd go with Skyrim, but to each their own.
View on Reddit #10420457

sissybicucktx@reddit

You only wish it were true. The damned thing about being damned is that wish of eternal return.
View on Reddit #10385265

Meh_whatever92@reddit

I feel this in my soul.
View on Reddit #10384806

Unusual_Influence354@reddit

Learn to love me sooner!
View on Reddit #10460797

CancerSunScorpioRise@reddit

Find God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit a lot faster. Been a better husband and father. Not that I was bad but everyone can always be better. Realized much sooner how much a slippery slope into hell liberalism is . While there are many personal things I would change those are the only really important ones
View on Reddit #10407139

Malingeringer@reddit

Conservatism is a cancer on society.
View on Reddit #10423345

CancerSunScorpioRise@reddit

No, liberalism is the cancer and that's spoken as one who has been both
View on Reddit #10443416

Malingeringer@reddit

No, Christo-fascism and right wing hate is a disease. Liberalism is what brought us everything worthwhile in this world. Love existed before Christianity. Conservatism is death.
View on Reddit #10460523

Excellent_Fig5525@reddit

Being a teenage girl in the 90's wasn't easy and my parents weren't as open as they should've been in terms of preparing me for how to navigate relationships, sex, consent, etc. As in, told me absolutely nothing. I wish my mom would've talked to me more about how I deserved to be treated by boys/men, that I can and should have my own boundaries and shouldn't put up with any kind of mistreatment or disrespect. Luckily, this taught me to be the kind of mom who educates my daughters and teaches them how they deserve to be treated, how to have boundaries, how to stay safe, etc. Everything I went through has only made me a better mom, so I'm ultimately thankful for that. I also wish I was more responsible with money when I was younger.
View on Reddit #10459402

ElRaymundo@reddit

I wouldn't have convinced myself Deirdre was out of my league.
View on Reddit #10458101

NotMiltonSmith@reddit

I grew up in NYC in the late 80s and early 90s. The AIDs crisis ran wild so my youthful sexual exploits were limited. Everyone was terrified. No one told me how difficult monogamy is. I love my wife and don’t want to lose her but when a woman shows interest I spin not into guilt but depression. Problem is.. I held up better than most and get more since I am 45 than I did at 28. Long way of saying I would have sewn more oats. This quiet despair sucks.
View on Reddit #10457914

TakkataMSF@reddit

In the infamous words of Bender the robot, "Afterlife! Pfft! If I thought I had to do this all over again, I'd kill myself." That's not really true. I'd work harder in college. I've never been a good student but I never applied myself. Study? Go to class? hah! Probably go to community college first as well. Save myself a fuckton of money. The other stuff, I don't know if I could fix it. A lot of what I needed was support and encouragement. I tell really crummy jokes now so I might not worry and tell crummy jokes to amuse myself. And don't take the stupid LEGO tree from that kid! Still carry that guilt around. It's annoying.
View on Reddit #10457718

dragonclawfirehorde@reddit

Wear ear plugs when attending concerts etc. I feel like my hearing has already deteriorated significantly and I have a long way to go, yeesh.
View on Reddit #10385590

Timely-Computer4105@reddit

I’m good as long as subtitles are on.
View on Reddit #10414099

LisaDawnG@reddit

I now wear hearing aids… I’m 56 😬
View on Reddit #10457717

bibfortuna1970@reddit

And the frigging tinnitus. Thank you Sony Walkman.
View on Reddit #10400277

GogglesPisano@reddit

EEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
View on Reddit #10415694

coldbrewedsunshine@reddit

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
View on Reddit #10443909

cool_side_of_pillow@reddit

Ugh. I really feel this one.
View on Reddit #10405182

DaisyJane1@reddit

I have hearing loss in my left ear from being in my cousin's car on weekends. She cranked the radio up so loud we had to yell at each other to talk, even tho I was in the passenger seat. I hated it, but I couldn't say anything cos it was her car.
View on Reddit #10395717

dragonclawfirehorde@reddit

OMG my cousin did this to me too!!! I remember I used to jump every time he would turn the car on it was so f#cking loud. I did actually make him turn it down after he laughed at me for flinching. Jerk!
View on Reddit #10396014

DaisyJane1@reddit

I'm glad he turned it down for you. Do you have any hearing loss from it?
View on Reddit #10401459

dragonclawfirehorde@reddit

No, I think my hearing loss and Tinnitus is mainly from all those Chemical Brothers shows and weekends clubbing in NYC. So much fun…so damn LOUD.
View on Reddit #10401990

Alextheseal_42@reddit

What?
View on Reddit #10393854

dragonclawfirehorde@reddit

HUH?!?! You’ll have to speak up I’m wearing a towel…
View on Reddit #10395700

paperdevil77@reddit

I would not fear my Father's wrath. I would encourage my parents to divorce their toxic union sooner than later. I would be honest with how I felt about their "god". I would keep my best friend from doing heroine and eventually killing himself. I would be there for him when his wife passed away. I would invest in Apple, Google, Bitcoin ;) I would not waste a single moment by working a job that I hated. I would do what I loved and not give a single fuck to the pressures of the "American Dream".
View on Reddit #10457156

meat_sack@reddit

I quit an 8 year smoking habit 20 years ago, so if I had it to do over again, I'd have never started that in the first place.
View on Reddit #10382537

qpv@reddit

I had a 20 year habit, quit for 10, started again a year ago. I hate it. Feel like garbage.
View on Reddit #10388614

mullett@reddit

I only smoke when I drink heavily which is on the weekends and I went almost a year without, started doing it again and goddamn it’s been three weekends in a row, smoking like 4-5 a night. I can’t smoke at all sober, it makes me sick to my stomach and I have no urge. By the time I have my second or third beer on a Friday night though goddamn I want one.
View on Reddit #10390734

qpv@reddit

Yeah I'm like that too. Unfortunately that means I drink every night. I can't get past 5 o'clock tbh. Never thought I'd be here, but I am.
View on Reddit #10436643

mullett@reddit

I drink most nights but it’s usually a couple three beers, weekends I like a sixer of talls and a 22oz ipa or stout.
View on Reddit #10456226

Life-Unit-4118@reddit

Chantix. Don’t believe all the insane crap about bad dreams and murderous rages. I took it and quit within five days.
View on Reddit #10420351

misterpickles69@reddit

I did the same but I stopped a week ago and so far so good (again).
View on Reddit #10398469

qpv@reddit

The first week is by far the hardest. Nice work friend keep it up
View on Reddit #10403030

ComprehensiveEbb8261@reddit

I don't even like thinking about how long I smoked. I finally quit after I found this app called QuitSure. I swear this was the only thing that worked. I have been smoke-free (not one puff) for 628 days. And this was after trying every method. The meds, vaping, patches, nothing worked for me. But I'll be damned if this one didn't work after 6 days.
View on Reddit #10391605

PlumbCrazyRefer@reddit

I’m in the same boat
View on Reddit #10389220

961402@reddit

You never really quit, you just stop smoking and yes there's a difference. Most of the time when I walk by someone who's smoking I'll catch a whiff of smoke and be all, "ugh, no.. just no" and get the hell away from them but maybe one time out of 1,000 it takes every bit of self control not to bum one from them and I haven't smoked in probably close to a 15 years.
View on Reddit #10389924

mofomeat@reddit

Same here. Smoked 15 years, quit 20 years ago on Sept 9. Hate the way they smell, but still crave one once in awhile. Still have dreams about smoking regularly (had one last night, actually). It never goes away.
View on Reddit #10450666

sunshinelively@reddit

I quit at age 30, so 28 years tobacco free. I used to dream about smoking and smoking relapse. And for at least 10 years I would have cravings. I held strong - never looked back. 3 friends recently with lung cancer it’s awful. So glad I quit when I did
View on Reddit #10441543

Gamagatsu74@reddit

That’s what I say about drinking. I didn’t quit, I just stopped, that was almost 10 years ago. Never really had too big of a problem but decided it was time. I quit smoking about 5 years ago. Unlike you, i pass people smoking and now I can’t stand the smell of cigarettes anymore. But, I do get urges a couple times a year that last about a minute and then I don’t think about it again for awhile. GOOD JOB!!! On the quitting smoking!!! I’m sure your breathing better and smelling and tasting food and other things a lot more!
View on Reddit #10392561

Murky-Historian-9350@reddit

I feel. I haven’t smoked in 8 years, but there are times when the craving hits hard. I wish I never started all those years ago.
View on Reddit #10391903

Terrible_Emotion_710@reddit

Same
View on Reddit #10391718

treelovingaytheist@reddit

Smoked for 30, quit 8 years ago. Such a waste Of time, health, and money.
View on Reddit #10411244

Excusemytootie@reddit

Same. I quit 20 years ago after smoking for almost 15. I feel pretty good health wise but I’m aware that I’ve done damage and it could come back to haunt me at any time.
View on Reddit #10399848

meat_sack@reddit

A couple years ago, my doctor recommended I get a "cardiac CT with calcium score." It wasn't covered by insurance, but only cost about $75 out of pocket at the hospital. I'm in pretty good shape, do a ton of cardio... but was still in the 99%... meaning out of 100 people only 1 is more likely to have a heart attack. I asked the cardiologist why... and he said it was likely the smoking all those years ago. That arteries are like non-stick pans and smoking is like taking sandpaper to it. They don't get fixed, and plaque just builds up over time. So now I just take a "statin" pill every day to keep more from building up. I'd recommend this test for all of us GenX ex-smokers, because you can get it all under control now so we can get some of that Social Security money they keep telling us we're going to get!
View on Reddit #10400653

Excusemytootie@reddit

Thanks, that’s a really great tip. I’ve had some heart issues over the years so it’s definitely a worry in the back of my mind.
View on Reddit #10402615

throwaway_boulder@reddit

When I was 15 my dad, who was a smoker, caught me smoking. He said “I’m not going to try to talk you out of it but I guarantee that one day you will regret it.” He was right.
View on Reddit #10386164

InsaneAilurophileF@reddit

Oh Lawd. Not get fat. Get into regular exercise. Learn to budget and manage money. Settle down and quit trying to find my "passion," because lots of us don't actually have one (and that's fine!).
View on Reddit #10456052

SugarinSaltShaker@reddit

Invest in index funds instead of parties
View on Reddit #10453805

CeilingUnlimited@reddit

I would have tried to get my parents to stay together.
View on Reddit #10452156

AnnaWinter2023@reddit

Never marry and no kids.
View on Reddit #10383123

ThrowawayANarcissist@reddit

Why do you regret marrying and having children? I have been single most of my life or I had a BF or GF but we never married and never had children as it was not a long lasting relationship and I cannot afford to be a single parent.
View on Reddit #10427021

AnnaWinter2023@reddit

Kids causes a lot of worry and stress. I don’t have the same options as someone like you. I can’t just move someplace. I have consider distance from the kids. They hit finance bumps and I feel obligated to help even when it hurts my finances. I was married for 25 years. Felt like a prison sentence towards the end. You can’t just say - I am going to buy new car. You don’t get those choice - you are tied to another person so they get to weigh in on that. I am divorced now and sweet freedom!!! I can go spend $1000 on clothes and there is no one to explain that to
View on Reddit #10451868

outwitthebully@reddit

I’m the opposite. More kids!!
View on Reddit #10389104

RogerClyneIsAGod2@reddit

You know, this would've been my mother's answer. She came from a family of 8 & always wanted more kids. She truly loved children. She had too many miscarriages & ended up only having me & my half brother. But she would've been happy if she'd had her own football team or more & of course a husband that could've afforded them all.
View on Reddit #10397736

qpv@reddit

A lot of people feel that way, they just can never say it
View on Reddit #10388742

madfoot@reddit

yikes!
View on Reddit #10387036

AlphaWolf@reddit

I was pretty timid during my college years and I would definitely have gone off to Silicon Valley to work in tech there after I graduated college. Being in tech I would argue that was the place to be for 20 years. I had some friends who did that and did very well. A wild ride. My career path was much more tame and boring.
View on Reddit #10451632

Rhalellan@reddit

Find my wife when we were in our 20’s and spend every waking moment telling her how much I love her.
View on Reddit #10450503

peonyseahorse@reddit

Self care... my parents were extremely narcissistic and self serving, I was brought up to always sacrifice my comfort and well being for others. It sucks, I was basically brought up to be a doormat and of course when we begin to be NORMAL and set boundaries, people get pissed.
View on Reddit #10449729

HistoricalNail4956@reddit

That I never had a drink
View on Reddit #10446719

Ampersandbox@reddit

Wish I’d seen more clearly and earlier what alcohol did to my parents. Wish I’d never started drinking. Grateful that I’ve been able to stop.
View on Reddit #10446662

Zandaf@reddit

Not pick up smoking when I was 15. Took me till I was 21 to quit and then I fell of the wagon 13 years later for a year cause of a bad relationship. Funny enough I developed a allergy to cigarette smoke so I haven';t had even a social one in like 4 years lol
View on Reddit #10446401

LushOrchestrations@reddit

Invest in Apple.
View on Reddit #10446394

MrRemoto@reddit

Buy Apple stock in 2002.
View on Reddit #10426423

ChronoFish@reddit

How about 1988?
View on Reddit #10429590

MrRemoto@reddit

I was 12. I was investing in X-Men comics.
View on Reddit #10445232

PV_Pathfinder@reddit

Avoid credit cards, take better care of my hearing and travel a bit more.
View on Reddit #10381786

nobodywantstoread@reddit

I feel like we were never educated on financial readiness. I mean I got a job at age 15 and worked pretty much ever since, but we graduated high school and were just set free. At college, credit cards were handed out like candy with free teeshirts. I got into debt before i had a real career job. I am trying to educated my kids now in money, debt and impulsive buying.
View on Reddit #10392752

coldbrewedsunshine@reddit

and retirement. absolutely had no concept. and at 50, too late to be smart about it.
View on Reddit #10443875

A_Thorny_Petal@reddit

So many hours standing in front of a stack of amps... modern noise cancelling earplugs would have changed everything, those foam or rubber crappie things when we where young just made everything sound weird.
View on Reddit #10393522

ihearthetrain@reddit

If you don't have tinnitus at our age have you really lived?
View on Reddit #10439961

SickMon_Fraud@reddit

Tinnitus? I got it bad.
View on Reddit #10412589

A_Thorny_Petal@reddit

What? Did you say Sinusitis? yeah my allergies are bad too now! What? Why am I yelling? I'm not yelling Why are you whispering?!
View on Reddit #10415362

Siltyn@reddit

> Avoid credit cards Credit cards are great when used properly. I haven't paid for a hotel, flight, or rental car in about a decade due to /r/churning credit card points.....all off stuff I was buying anyway.
View on Reddit #10382445

qpv@reddit

Really? I've never used any of those points things. Always seemed like a scam. How do you do it?
View on Reddit #10388529

Siltyn@reddit

Bounce from card to card with big initial bonuses after spending X amount. Several years back when I moved into my current house, I went through getting bonuses on about a dozen cards for all the stuff I needed for the house (new carpet, new furniture, painting, etc.). Used to be easier to do before Chase(the best bonus cards) implemented some rules slowing down earning bonuses from them. I'm almost out of Chase points now though, but sitting on about 250,000 Southwest points. For perspective, I can fly round trip from Vegas to New Orleans for less than 30,000 points total. Paid some annual fees for the cards, but those were nothing compared to the value of the points I've used. Last summer I stayed in a $400/night suite for 4 nights for $0, used all points for it. Never once paid a penny in interest, always paying the statement balance each month.
View on Reddit #10390923

qpv@reddit

Sounds stressful
View on Reddit #10391033

hateyouless@reddit

Take my upvote With my anxiety/depression I’m lucky if I manage to pay my bills on time while the money is sitting in my account.
View on Reddit #10426758

VoodooDuck614@reddit

I feel this one. Even at the peak of my earning, making great money, I would ignore everything even though the money was just sitting there in my account. To this day I HATE when my phone rings. I don’t even understand *why* I have a trauma response to money and bills, but I do. It’s ridiculous.
View on Reddit #10429312

qpv@reddit

Ha, yeah I feel you there. I don't empathize with point collectors and coupon people (I understand it, they know the game and perpetuate it) That shit is my worst nightmare, I have enough to worry about within the construct of regular financial engineering. Adding ridiculous levels of smoke and mirrors bullshit pisses me off. I understand that the freebies given to some are paid for by most. Hate it. Is what it is though.
View on Reddit #10427023

hateyouless@reddit

I just thought it sounded like too much additional mental work
View on Reddit #10427256

qpv@reddit

Absolutely I agree. I'd rather work a couple extra days a year on something real than constantly ponder some convoluted points system.
View on Reddit #10427371

xantub@reddit

As long as you pay your full balance every month, credit cards are great. Not only do you get points that you use to buy stuff or just as credit for your next bill, but it also protects you from fraudulent purchases, stolen cards, etc.
View on Reddit #10394462

timothra5@reddit

Use your cards to pay your normal expenses. Recurring bills, point of sale retail, etc, then pay them off before the finance charge hits. This way you are building credit, earning points, and protecting your bank accounts from fraud when your debit card gets skimmed at the till.
View on Reddit #10390644

Excusemytootie@reddit

Credit cards can be great and lucrative but you just have to pay them off every month, ah the catch.
View on Reddit #10399944

tjean5377@reddit

I would say that over the last 15 years I've paid down $80K in cc debt. It's money I could have used today. I have no savings, and just under 4 years to figure out how to pay for my kids upcoming college (hoping she'll go into a trade). My husband and I bought what feels like the last cheap house in our area, and refi'd at the lowest rates in early 21. We both have guaranteed jobs til we retire or our bodies give out. Life is nickel and diming us with chronic medical conditions, and day to day shit. Tires blow, windshields crack, pets need to go to the vet, municipal trash bills etc etc etc. We have 2 credit cards left for emergencies...it could be worse.
View on Reddit #10389972

Confident_Stress_226@reddit

Not married my ex. Not stay 30 years with the next one. Not let my mother have such a strong hold of me and guilt trip me. Wish I pursued the career I wanted and moves away instead of bowing to my husband's wishes. Giving him the best years of my life. If I had my time over I wouldn't give up those things that meant a lot to me to please others. That's what I'm telling my kids to do. Life lesson for me is no-one can live your life except you. Compromise yes, bend over no.
View on Reddit #10443143

413_Dina@reddit

I would t change anything because I’m the person I am now due to the things experiences. As much as I would like to change some things differently. It makes no sense to dwell on the past because nothing can be done about it. The past is the past and all you can change is your now to make your future better.
View on Reddit #10443036

Thirty_Helens_Agree@reddit

Take better care of my teeth.
View on Reddit #10381586

Admiral_Maybe129@reddit

Yeah. I tried. I had a botched braces job at 14. When they removed them (by literally yanking them off my teeth) they took a lot of tooth enamel with them. After that it was just a slow decline of teeth constantly chipping & breaking for a very long time. Every time I went to the dentist they would max out my insurance in two visits, never actually "fixing" anything. It was years of "treadmill" dental work. Fast forward to 45....I decided to bite the bullet (pun intended) and just go full mouth dental implants. Permanent solution....done. I can smile again.
View on Reddit #10398493

starbellbabybena@reddit

Thinking of doing the same. My third pregnancy just killed my teeth and no matter what they get worse and worse. Doing the implants may be my only hope now.
View on Reddit #10399151

Admiral_Maybe129@reddit

Sorry to hear that. My teeth were so far gone it was my only hope too. But you have to have enough bone to be a candidate or else they have to do bone grafts so looking into sooner rather than later would be better. I started looking in 2018, went to a few different consults, got some red flags from the dentists, COVID hit....then at the beginning of this year I finally found a place I felt good with. About 7 months post op now and super happy with my decision. I went to Nuvia and they have locations all over the US. They ONLY do full mouth implants. Nothing else so they're really good at it. It was a great experience and they make you feel very comfortable with the whole process...no judgement or shame whatsoever. They pull your teeth one day, permanent implant teeth put in the next day. 4 months of soft foods (anything you can cut with a plastic fork) then you can eat anything you like after that.
View on Reddit #10400486

hateyouless@reddit

Would you be willing to share what it cost?
View on Reddit #10424305

Admiral_Maybe129@reddit

I don't mind but remember...it's an investment, not an expense. The price I paid was well worth it especially given how much I've spent on dental work over the years and any future dental work on teeth I was just going to lose anyway, not to mention the pain of it all...the self confidence it gives you back, eating whatever you like...it was well worth it. Also, when you die, you can't take your money with you...but you can take your teeth. The cost was 50k which is about the industry average. The teeth are strong AF...way stronger than real teeth but look very natural. All I read was complaints about dentures and how they didn't fit and looked fake etc and I definitely didn't want to go that route. Nuvia did an awesome job with the "smile design" and I am very happy with everything. Not trying to sell them or anything but I know I talked to several "dentists" over the course of a few years and just didn't feel right about them and thought it was never going to happen for me. Check out their Facebook page for a ton of videos & testimonials. https://www.facebook.com/nuviasmiles
View on Reddit #10425282

hateyouless@reddit

About the cost of a new car. I’d say that’s worth it. How long can you finance that for?
View on Reddit #10427427

Admiral_Maybe129@reddit

10 years. No early payoff penalty. They have a finance company they work with so when you do your consultation if they determine you're a candidate they run your credit and get your loan terms on the spot. I do have really good credit so loan terms may vary. I didn't have to do a down payment or anything, I financed the full amount. The process is just like buying a car.
View on Reddit #10441227

starbellbabybena@reddit

Oh thanks so much for the info. I’ll definitely look into them. I just want to eat like a normal human again :)
View on Reddit #10400579

Smokinlizardbreath@reddit

Same with knees, and my mental health...
View on Reddit #10385522

ArmedAndDeranged@reddit

I wear good supportive shoes with insoles, keep my body weight down and don’t engage in risk behaviors like skydive landings (knew a veteran that REALLY fucked his knees by doing lots of parachute landings when he was younger) Anything else we can do for our knees?
View on Reddit #10435588

RealFun1606@reddit

take better care of my hearing and travel a bit more.
View on Reddit #10395372

ModaMeNow@reddit

What?
View on Reddit #10405750

JauntyShrimp@reddit

Yeah I used to literally chew Jolly Ranchers
View on Reddit #10387523

d1a1n3@reddit

We weren’t supposed to do that?
View on Reddit #10395986

Uniquitous@reddit

You'll pull a few fillings that way for sure.
View on Reddit #10428906

Inevitable-Pen962@reddit

Me too! And ice!
View on Reddit #10426786

Wolfs_Rain@reddit

Omg, same same!!!!! And what’s so bad on my part is multiple times I had some not so great dentist appointments and I had time to catch it before it got to where it is today. So I’m just an idiot. Also, I’d figure out a career path before I even graduated high school and get into a career, not just a job, in my 20’s and start saving for retirement. That’s the ultimate thing I’d do differently because being poor sucks.
View on Reddit #10410366

supershinythings@reddit

My father used to say this al the time. The thing is, his dental problems were not of his own making. When he was in his early 50’s he was electro-shocked at work, blowing a 20 amp fuse. It threw his body back and he slammed his jaw into a cabinet, seriously loosening several teeth that fell out over the next few weeks. After that, it was only a matter of time. Teeth are like the stones of a roman arch, and like Spartan soldiers, a tooth supports the teeth to the left and right, and they in turn support that tooth. A missing tooth weakens the teeth to its left and right; over time they weakened and fell out. Anyway, by the time he passed away he only had a few teeth left to anchor his upper and lower bridges. Dad didn’t complain though. He could eat steak and pizza, but avoided things with small seeds that could get between his gums and bridge. Dad was SO FREAKING TOUGH. It’s astonishing how much pain he had to go through in his life, both emotional and physical, and remain the coolest, nearest person I’ll likely ever know.
View on Reddit #10399473

Distinct-Engineer889@reddit

Well this... but according to my DNA results, I'm genetically inclined to have bad teeth, and I have a serious sugar addiction. Not sure I would kick that. And I was bad at grinding my teeth. It would have cost me $200 to get a mouth guard. $200 I didn't have. But if I would have known then what I know now, I'd find a way to get that $200 and stop that grinding.
View on Reddit #10397163

IYFS88@reddit

Yes! I only started flossing in the last few years (learned that doing it in the shower is the key to consistency for me). I used to always have at least one cavity brewing every visit for my entire life plus early risk factors for periodontis. Then when I started flossing I literally stopped having any new dental problems and reversed those periodontitis numbers! I could’ve saved a fortune in original treatments, not to mention re-dos on old fillings and crowns.
View on Reddit #10395604

monjatrix@reddit

My wallet feels this deeply
View on Reddit #10394691

flashlightbugs@reddit

I felt this in my MOUTH, and even deeper in my bank account. I just had to pay a depressing amount of money for a dentist to cause me excruciating pain, followed by extreme discomfort, and probably a lifetime of irritation. Don’t be like me.
View on Reddit #10394504

xantub@reddit

True, I went like 15 years without going to the dentist, until I felt a pain in a molar at 38 or something, checked in the bathroom and when I put my finger in it, it moved! Went to the dentist, I had periodontitis, basically all the supporting tissue grabbing the back teeth was gone. My teeth were perfect, no cavities or anything, but they were holding in their place just out of vacuum suction, nothing grabbing them (the back molars). They took my 4 wisdom teeth and one molar, and told me the other 3 back molars were holding by just a bit of tissue, if I took real good care they could last some years before I lost them too. Well that was some 15 years ago and still going, cleaning thoroughly and so far so good.
View on Reddit #10394197

WeirEverywhere802@reddit

Peggy sue got married reverence?
View on Reddit #10392449

External_Cut4931@reddit

me too. but that would mean learning not to talk when i should be listening. its a lesson that has so far eluded me....
View on Reddit #10386709

Witch_of_November@reddit

Oh god, yes. I ignored them in my 20s because they looked nice and I had better things to spend my money on. Severely paying for it now.
View on Reddit #10382605

Shecharchoret@reddit

I’m cheating being part of this group as I’m born 1983 but I don’t identify with other millennials as I do with my big brother’s generation (Gen X). I feel like me and him are from the same generation and my sisters who are born late 80s are from their own generation. To answer the question; 1. Not skipping school!!! I’m at university NOW and worked a lot of fun but un-rewarding and physically draining jobs during my 20s and 30s. I wish I would have stick to school and went to uni right away in my teens. 2. All my relationships before meeting my husband. I should have either been single or had relationships with other people that had been more fun and better for my mental health. 3. Plucking my eyebrows. 4. Dyeing and bleaching my hair back and forth, it has a beautiful dark brown hazelnut shade but I didn’t embrace my natural colouring.
View on Reddit #10439834

AdBig5700@reddit

As probably the king of second guessing decisions, I can say that this is not a productive road to go down. I did my best. No regrets.
View on Reddit #10386171

landmesser@reddit

Agree. Someone wrote something like this: instead of thinking if I was 20 again, I imagine that I am 80. Then I imagine what 80 year old me would like 40 year old me to do. Then I stop imagning, and realize that I am 40, and that I can do that today, for 80 year old future me... Like that we can "second guess", but more usefully...
View on Reddit #10436293

herselfnz@reddit

Aww, I love this! Thanks!
View on Reddit #10438781

Waterhead1234@reddit

I couldn't agree more. There were a lot of valuable lessons hidden in those bad decisions. All in all I think I am better off today for having made those mistakes in my youth.
View on Reddit #10403806

WhiplashMotorbreath@reddit

I would have followed my dream that I was very good at, instead of worrying what the family would do without my paycheck helping pay the bills. Something no 16 y/o should have to worry about. I am still able to jump in and be in the top 5 to 10 so I have the natural talent, So if I was to relive life, I'd tell myself to pack up and go follow your dream.
View on Reddit #10437165

unopoularopinion@reddit

My 1st marriage. I wish I had realized how bad she was for me. Also on that note, recently spoke with a girl I went out with a couple time. Should have pursued that more vigorously. She even told me her mom wanted us to end up together. Could have been good.
View on Reddit #10434902

AidsKitty1@reddit

I started smoking at 16 and have since quit but I wish I had never started that habit. It's a MFer and still struggle with it.
View on Reddit #10434031

ImmaNinja001@reddit

If I had it all again, I'd change it all!! Starting with my parents. Mother, step-father (he did adopt me. for whatever that's worth) And then there's the Greatest pregnancy that resulted in the Greatest Platinum Kidd (as dad called him) that ever lived!!
View on Reddit #10433488

hiddengypsy@reddit

I would change nothing at all.
View on Reddit #10432367

SheetPostah@reddit

Chosen progress over paralyzing perfectionism.
View on Reddit #10431841

XaeaXvyoe@reddit

It doesn't matter.
View on Reddit #10431655

Giant-Irish-Co9ck74@reddit

As an angry Gen X teenager I did a lot of shit that I am not proud of, and because of this my last name carries a stigma with it where I live to this day. It is always associated with my best friend of 40 year last name. My daughter and niece caught a bit of shit from the schools cuz of the name as well. That being said I wouldn't change a goddamn thing. For The first time in my life I am finally comfortable in my own skin and shit that used to bug me doesn't anymore. In fact I really dont give a shit about anything, and just speak whatever is on my mid. The wife hates that part. If I could go back and thing even one thing it might not make me who I am today. A beer guzzling loudmouth ass kicking Irishman. I might not have my kids or I might not even be here today. If I could tell the younger me anything though it woud be dontd that stupid shiyt that gts you hurt. My body is in pain from me just being me. My kids say that my final words on this earth will be hold my beer and watch this.
View on Reddit #10385190

Motor-Cupcake7577@reddit

That’s really lame, your kids aren’t responsible for what you did, and hell, there’s not a lot that’s worth holding someone in our age responsible for having done way back in teen years. Lame of the school, that is.
View on Reddit #10426200

Giant-Irish-Co9ck74@reddit

It wa more asking if they're related and when hey said ya he is my father or uncle it was either a positive response,but mainly it wasn't. One teacher told my daughter that I had a brilliant mind but chose to use my intellect to become a genius level offender instead. I have a sister to that wa a founding member of some stupid ass bloods gang of little stupid ass white boys that thought they were hard but we beat u on all the time. She is now an attorney. But her shenanigans also did not help our name. At that time my daughter had no clue as to who I was and certainly didn't know anything about the time I spent in and out of juvenile hall as a teenager either, and it certainly was not his place to inform my child that I was a hooligan and not a very good or nice person back then. Shit happens and you react to it then learn from it. While on lockdown for 9 months or so. My daughter also turned out to be a bully of sorts. All 4 foot 7 inches of her. That was corrected rather swiftly though. She is now 26 and still a bully to me her brother and husband.
View on Reddit #10431561

bad_kitty89@reddit

I would have listened to my mom and not married that wanker.
View on Reddit #10430989

ipini@reddit

Buy Apple stock in 1996.
View on Reddit #10430488

i-bleed-red@reddit

I would have kept trying until I found some forms of movement that I could do for life. I’ve been sedentary for 57 years and it’s a slog to change now. Plus I missed out on a lot of fun due to being out of shape and scared.
View on Reddit #10384662

luckylimper@reddit

Just start walking. Even if it’s to the end of the block.
View on Reddit #10429792

sissybicucktx@reddit

Hey, but think of all the delicious food and beverages you got to taste!
View on Reddit #10385774

i-bleed-red@reddit

Eating and moving are not mutually exclusive.
View on Reddit #10386556

sissybicucktx@reddit

> Plus I missed out on a lot of fun due to being out of shape and scared. I was referring to that part of your original comment. Yes, you did miss out on some things. But you also had many other experiences, whether that's tasting food and beverages or enjoying the feeling of lazing about. You have those memories to look back on, now. Everything's a trade-off. What you do with the rest of your days is up to you.
View on Reddit #10386727

i-bleed-red@reddit

Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification!!
View on Reddit #10387295

luckylimper@reddit

Cut my parents out of my life and therapy. We have a decent relationship now but many of my actions in my 20s and 30s were reactions to them and their terrible parenting.
View on Reddit #10429706

Miata_GT@reddit

Buy Apple/Microsoft/IBM stock when I was in HS.
View on Reddit #10384984

Uniquitous@reddit

With what money? Unless you were born with money already, I would think whatever money you made in HS went for gas and Taco Bell.
View on Reddit #10429025

RolandSnowdust@reddit

I bought 100 shares of apple in 1995 (or so) at $40. And then sold a year later at a slight loss. 🤦🏻‍♂️
View on Reddit #10413876

Miata_GT@reddit

I'm talking early 1980's when it was like $.08 a share. Can you imagine just by 1995?
View on Reddit #10422773

Uniquitous@reddit

I would ignore, with extreme prejudice, all the societal influences who said "it takes more strength not to fight." Fuck those idiots. I wish I had wrecked some fools.
View on Reddit #10428875

BinkoTheViking@reddit

Honestly, I wouldn’t change a damn thing. Because everything that I’ve gone through, the good, the bad, the horrific, the terrifying, the joyous, every damn thing, has made me into the person I am today. Sure, there’s some issues (a knee full of plastic and metal from a motorbike accident, an inability to hear out of my left ear properly because of being a guitarist in a high school heavy metal garage band, having to remember to take pills daily for mental health, an inability to smell anything but really strong smells and occasional migraines due to having a nose broken eight times and never fixed properly the last time, and all the scars)… But there’s a lot of good now (I am with the love of my life, working as a mental health support worker to help others get through what I’ve been through, being comfortable, happy and without a lot of worry for the first time in my life, and a small circle of very good friends)… If I went back and changed even one little thing, I might be better off, I might be worse off…but I wouldn’t be *me*. And I’m happy with who I am right at this moment.
View on Reddit #10400011

ThrowawayANarcissist@reddit

That is how I feel.
View on Reddit #10428473

Cptrunner@reddit

Invest in Apple and Amazon.
View on Reddit #10428373

nobodywantstoread@reddit

Experiment more. with everything.
View on Reddit #10392598

ThrowawayANarcissist@reddit

I did a lot of experimentation in my teens and 20s. I don't regret it but I am very thankful and grateful that I never got addicted to hard drugs and found them overrated/boring.
View on Reddit #10428250

SomeCrazedBiker@reddit

I don't think I would have tried hard drugs. I developed a taste for opioids at an early age from being a sickly child. Had me a good heroin Jones by my mid 20s. Did a ton of coke, too. Wasted almost a decade of my life in drug addled oblivion. I'm feeling much better now.
View on Reddit #10389813

ThrowawayANarcissist@reddit

Congrats on sobriety.
View on Reddit #10427957

SomeCrazedBiker@reddit

Thank you.
View on Reddit #10428028

Sweet_Priority_819@reddit

I wouldn't go to college right after high school just because that's what family and school said was "the only option". I'd work to get into bartending, casino dealer, flight attendant. That kind of thing.
View on Reddit #10382271

leftofthedial1@reddit

I would have studied abroad for a year for sure.
View on Reddit #10386254

RevereTheAughra@reddit

I highly recommend being a foreign exchange student. I actually think that that should be a requirement everywhere for all teenagers through some worldwide program or something, but anyway, I am definitely a wiser person for having studied abroad. I am reminded however of what my mom told me when she left her home state to go to graduate school far away: you take yourself with you. So the experience of being abroad helped me tremendously in some respects but it was still me over there with my undiagnosed mental illness and insecurities and fears. I was just doing it in French. There's a lot about it that I would do differently now.
View on Reddit #10388350

ThrowawayANarcissist@reddit

That is very true. I have lived abroad, traveled a lot, and I moved far away for a job that didn't work out. I was still "me" in all places or doing the exact same things I did where I grew up: going to museums, historical places, to concerts, hanging out with friends, going hiking and taking long walks, etc.
View on Reddit #10427421

charliefoxtrot9@reddit

Everything, because why not.
View on Reddit #10427350

Inevitable-Pen962@reddit

Smoking.
View on Reddit #10426828

ThrowawayANarcissist@reddit

I have thought about this some as a friend from Generation Jones is going through this right now and for the past three years. I generally like myself now that I am no longer in my teens or 20s. I don't know what if anything I would change as it doesn't work this way, and I try not to focus on "If only...or I wish I had..." as I did enough of this in my early 20s and it was horrible. Instead I focus on doing the best I can, and I am thankful for the things I did: I didn't go crazy with tripping and smoking hashish and pot daily or using coke on weekends and at parties or whenever it was offered the way my friends and classmates did. Yes I did it some but I figured as a teen and young adult it was best not to go crazy with anything. I had a period of daily drinking in college and even after college I would binge drink on weekends at parties, in bars with friends, at concerts, and at rare times at home. I stopped everything at 28 or 29 which by then was just sometimes vaping pot a few times a year, and drinking in low amounts at times. I had been using drugs since I was 13 or 14 and I saw what happened to friends who didn't stop when they still could or did not go to rehab or left rehab. I wanted to drop out of college to tour with the dead and later phish and other bands and instead I stayed in college and completed my degree. I am not wealthy but I am not homeless or almost homeless, and I learned to save money. I ended or limited contact with friends and drug buddies when they got addicted to hard drugs and hanging out with dealers who had any drug you wanted for sale and were available 24/7. I am bi and I didn't go crazy hooking up with men or women and was always careful to have safe sex even the few times I had sex drunk or high. I understand people have slip ups but I saw friends get sick with HIV and almost die from it even with the the experimental and then recent meds like the cocktail.
View on Reddit #10426818

snickerfoots@reddit

Not continuously date the type of men i did.
View on Reddit #10426195

mar78217@reddit

Finished college in my 20s instead of my forties.
View on Reddit #10426111

tressa27884@reddit

I would have killed him. I would’ve moved back to North Carolina after my husband died instead of California. It would’ve been so much better for me and my kids.
View on Reddit #10426050

smellsogood2@reddit

Taken more pictures of myself naked.
View on Reddit #10425817

-DethLok-@reddit

I'd stay in the CSS pension plan and not move to the PSS pension plan in 1993. I'm now comfortably & early retired - but would have been more comfortable and a retired a whole month earlier if I'd stayed in the CSS plan, and had more disposable income while working! I also should have, probably, studied accounting and become an accountant, maybe...
View on Reddit #10425724

DanTreview@reddit

I wouldn't take advice from my parents.
View on Reddit #10382137

honeybadgergrrl@reddit

OMG so much this. I let my parents get way too into my head and ended up at the wrong college. I found a degree plan I did like at that college, but my dad's doubt about it (Can you make a living doing that? Sounds like a hobby to me. That's for rich kids. Etc) got into my head until I just became despondent and dropped out. They meant well. They thought the college was safer, closer to family, smaller, and it was all those things, but I would have been SO much happier at the state school that was my first choice. My dad meant well about his doubts about my degree plan, but he honestly had no idea what he was talking about and knew nothing about the field. Everyone I know who completed the program has a career in the field and makes a decent living. I should have just said "thanks for the advice" and done what I wanted to do. I regret this a lot, and probably dwell on it more than I should.
View on Reddit #10403276

threadsoffate2021@reddit

I had a parent that didn't like the concept that school would cost money. Money that might not go into their pocket. From the age of 13 I was bullied into not going, not having the dream of a good job and higher education. If I could go back and tell myself not to listen to them and go anyways.....
View on Reddit #10419174

honeybadgergrrl@reddit

I'm sorry. I will never understand how a parent wqouldn't want the best for their kid.
View on Reddit #10423437

DanTreview@reddit

Because in my dad's case, he wanted to brag about me to his friends. Stems from his insecurities
View on Reddit #10425343

DanTreview@reddit

Oh, we must have the same dad. Here's what he said to me before college: "I'll try to support you no matter what you want to do, but just know that unless you become a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, or an accountant, you'll struggle your whole life." I wanted to fly airplanes, and didn't speak up, because that's not on "his list." I'm glad I went the route I did (accounting), but I would be enjoying my career much more behind the yoke of a UPS cargo plane or whatever.
View on Reddit #10404267

MusicSavesSouls@reddit

I would have married my high school sweetheart. I got married to a person that just wasn't right for me. I got a beautiful baby girl out of the deal but have been single since then. I just feel like it would have been amazing to go through all of life's curveballs with someone you've know practically your entire life. I messed up there.
View on Reddit #10425286

JoJo_Augustine@reddit

Wished I watched my weight and got into regular fitness. Now I have t2 diabetes, on ozempic, and strength training and dieting. I should have done this years ago in my 20s. Sighs.
View on Reddit #10425241

OldLadyReacts@reddit

Honestly I would have a lot more fun (sex, drugs, rock & roll) a lot earlier. I was a very grown up and responsible child and was treated basically as an adult at like 12 years old. I feel like I never really got to be a kid and be taken care of and be free of responsibility.
View on Reddit #10387071

Motor-Cupcake7577@reddit

It can be a whole lot of fun, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be at the end of the day either. Except the rock, if you mean playing music, and really love it to the point where you can make peace with how fucking difficult it is to make a viable career if it without a day job/serial odd jobs, no matter how good you are. I wish I’d spent even half the time on the partying and guys in my 20s/30s and been more focused on the career really as fully as I could. Music career, i mean. I also had less drilled into my head about responsibility/working myself into the ground to keep up a middle class lifestyle while doing all that and playing music. And from the other side I had the indie rhetoric about careerists and sellouts drilled in too. I wish I hadn’t internalized as much of either!
View on Reddit #10425074

BigJSunshine@reddit

Live at home with Mom until I paid my Student loans off
View on Reddit #10425064

GenXed@reddit

I would have left the USA while I was young enough to immigrate.
View on Reddit #10382735

Hurley002@reddit

This is something that I heavily researched, but never followed through with, always thinking I would get around to it later. Deeply regret not doing it.
View on Reddit #10385421

cremains_of_the_day@reddit

Same here, but I didn’t take the plunge because I didn’t want to leave my dog.
View on Reddit #10387442

Motor-Cupcake7577@reddit

I researched the fuck out of it, started stacking cash for a visa, and was gonna move to Berlin 15 years ago. I got sidetracked then got a couple years eaten up getting an autoimmune disorder under control. I regret that a whole shit ton. I’m still planning to move, thinking Italy now, whenever I finally finish a masters and higher level professional licensing that’ll be a leg up on a visa, but all the time I fantasize about finding an English taught MA or PhD program in my day job field somewhere (almost anywhere) in the EU, just eating shit on, like, 2/3 of my credits, and going asap. Buuuut I think that fucks up my plan for income based repayment of my US loans, I think. Haven’t investigated that far bcs I’d have to figure out living on 20 hrs/week working (unless I went under the table which feels super dicey especially with everything at stake at this point in my life), and my cat just started cancer treatment where we are now, sooo I am where I am, for now.
View on Reddit #10424814

GrouchyEric@reddit

OMG right. To think, I could've been living somewhere that cares enough about its people to provide basic medical care. Fuck!
View on Reddit #10383958

outwitthebully@reddit

How does being 50 or 60 preclude you from moving to Canada, right now?
View on Reddit #10388861

GrouchyEric@reddit

I looked into it a few years ago. BC required a test of English proficiency and as a native English speaker, I was unable to pass. Thanks, wonderful American public schools. Also, I don't have enough money to start a business, or "make a significant investment." I'd have a better chance immigrating to Canada as an non-english speaking Indian or Pakistani than as a white american.
View on Reddit #10399213

CancerSunScorpioRise@reddit

Think about your post a minute. It should make you angry but I suspect it will not. The irony of leftist arguing how great Canada is, and for open borders here in the USA while they can't even get into Canada
View on Reddit #10407834

Malingeringer@reddit

Not one person is arguing for open borders. Pull your head out of whatever echo chamber you are stuck in.
View on Reddit #10419426

outwitthebully@reddit

OK that is super bizarre. I had no idea. I thought Canada was very welcoming of immigrants?
View on Reddit #10409373

GrouchyEric@reddit

I think their welcoming of us immigrants went out with the Vietnam War. Another example of boomers pulling up the ladder after them.
View on Reddit #10417429

outwitthebully@reddit

I could swear we had family friends who moved there in like the late 90’s and it was no big deal?
View on Reddit #10419060

A_Thorny_Petal@reddit

I don't speak french, work in the medical/technical field with a master's degree, and I am not willing or able to work on an oil derrick. So that's how I can't move to Canada.
View on Reddit #10393375

outwitthebully@reddit

Canada is bilingual though (english/french) As to the rest I’m sure they have plenty of med tech and other jobs that don’t involve oil derricks
View on Reddit #10394296

tag1550@reddit

One of the things about Canada that not a lot of us down south know about is that in the Canadian civil service + in some private industry as well, not being able to speak and read fluent French does put a ceiling on how far you can get in your career.
View on Reddit #10410363

A_Thorny_Petal@reddit

It is INSANELY hard to get residence in Canada as an American. It would cheaper, easier and quicker for me to move to Vietnam or Uruguay and live there indefinitely than a place like 75 miles from my family.
View on Reddit #10394933

davdev@reddit

Cause the Canadian government says “no”.
View on Reddit #10401652

JustABizzle@reddit

It’s not easy
View on Reddit #10392844

ShutYourDumbUglyFace@reddit

For me, it's both aging parents and kids who are about to graduate (and matriculate into) high school. I think there's a window where you could move and your parents might be able to follow and before your kids are entrenched where you already are. Uprooting the kids now would be too difficult and leaving my (and the husband's) parents feels wrong.
View on Reddit #10389962

outwitthebully@reddit

Well maybe in a few years after the kids have graduated. You could move your parents too and then you could all benefit from Canadian healthcare
View on Reddit #10391495

ShutYourDumbUglyFace@reddit

This is mine, too.
View on Reddit #10389679

thedepster@reddit

Me, too. I stuck around for my parents, but I shouldn't have.
View on Reddit #10388564

AdaVeen42@reddit

All of it, honestly.
View on Reddit #10424779

mapetitejulie@reddit

Not have kids. Seriously.
View on Reddit #10424756

MetallicaGirl73@reddit

Made some effort in school. I know I could have done better because I made Dean's list in college. Also I would been more responsible with money.
View on Reddit #10424630

MarvelBishUSA42@reddit

I try to not have regrets but I guess cut my sugar or change my diet sooner. Save money too.
View on Reddit #10424579

jfiner@reddit

I would have tested out of high school (GED) and gone straight to college at 15 or 16. I think in my state it was age 15 you could do that. Those high school years weren't...much.
View on Reddit #10424189

snarpy@reddit

After graduating high school, I'd been accepted to the big local university, but I was dating this girl whose mom was a college teacher and convinced me that a local college (like a 2 year, smaller thing) was just as good. It definitely was not. I would have met people more like me at the university, and I never really recovered from that.
View on Reddit #10386231

PMmeYourHopes-Dreams@reddit

Did she mean to do the first 2 years at the community college then transfer? Or did you only go to the 2-year college? Because that's two different things entirely.
View on Reddit #10422860

snarpy@reddit

The first, but really what I'm saying is that I missed out in the environment I would have had at a full-on university.
View on Reddit #10424097

blacklab@reddit

Less impact sports. High school stuff + 10 years of snowboard drops and intense riding have left me with zilch.
View on Reddit #10423704

smtrixie@reddit

Convince my mom to see a dr.
View on Reddit #10423650

cartoonistjohnboren@reddit

Have different parents, grow up in a different geographic location. Having a date-raping 'dad' who vanished the moment I was conceived, a narcissist mom who never, ever wanted kids in the first place, and growing up in a trailer park in a part of Alabama that blurs into Florida, with all the social, cultural, and classist baggage that gets attached to that, well... It sure would be nice to not have all that residual mental static. I wouldn't call it a regret, but it's a weird feeling knowing you were utterly fucked at birth, and yet you still have to count yourself lucky. Never had a chance at a real career, no significant material success, but hey, didn't turn into a hopeless basket case, either. Bless my heart.
View on Reddit #10422630

Vivid-Teacher4189@reddit

Buy the property my dad told me too (next to the one he bought as an investment) and said he’d go as security on when I first had a proper job. I thought it was too expensive and didn’t feel like working just to own a house. 75 grand it was in 1995 it’s just sold for just under 5 million, it’s barely had a paint job in 30 years.
View on Reddit #10386456

PMmeYourHopes-Dreams@reddit

Ouch! Fathers can be wrong about some things but they really know what they're talking about with others.
View on Reddit #10422294

Greedy-Parsnip666@reddit

Drink less. :/ I've been sober since November 25th, 2019. Yay!
View on Reddit #10422006

dawg_will_hunt@reddit

Bought bitcoin at 2.30
View on Reddit #10421981

buzzardrooster@reddit

travel while the dollar was stupidly high pre-euro.
View on Reddit #10421887

Dispatcher12@reddit

Major in history or English, not theology.
View on Reddit #10421753

Dazzling-Walrus9673@reddit

Never gone to weight watchers. That messed me up for 20 years. I’m heavier than I ever was and I’m ok with it now. But for 20 years I obsessed over my weight. So stupid.
View on Reddit #10385248

honeybadgergrrl@reddit

I'm convinced that being dragged to Weight Watchers at too young of an age fucked up my metabolism for the rest of my life. Fuck Weight Watchers.
View on Reddit #10403447

ElleGeeAitch@reddit

My mom brought me to WW when I was 14 and weighed 139 pounds. Those bitches should have turned me away, instead the told me I needed to lose 40 pounds because I was 4'11". I wore a size 8!
View on Reddit #10419114

honeybadgergrrl@reddit

They NEVER should have been allowed to accept people younger than 18. I was 10. I look back on pictures of myself, and I wasn't even fat. I had baby fat, and a short, thick torso due to scoliosis. Forcing children to attend Weight Watchers is abuse, and I will die on that hill.
View on Reddit #10421035

ElleGeeAitch@reddit

It was fucking criminal.
View on Reddit #10421748

Dazzling-Walrus9673@reddit

Yes! And I hate that my daughter watched me go to weight watchers.
View on Reddit #10409142

wwhateverr@reddit

It's crazy. Weight watchers is considered a wildly successful weight loss program, but it only has a 5% success rate. Even then, the bar for "success" is being able to lose at least 10% of your body weight and keep it off for 2 years. I don't know any fat person who would consider that a success.
View on Reddit #10407837

Dazzling-Walrus9673@reddit

Oh yeah. I did that at least 5 or 6 times. But then each time gained more back than I lost. 🤬
View on Reddit #10409212

gotchafaint@reddit

omg right? I look at pictures of young skinny me and remember feeling so ashamed of how fat i was. What a waste.
View on Reddit #10394876

Dazzling-Walrus9673@reddit

Yup! Now I wish I was as skinny when I thought I was fat.
View on Reddit #10399182

gotchafaint@reddit

I say that all the time lol. Now I’m conscious about appreciating how young I look at 56 compared to 30 years from now.
View on Reddit #10407133

beermaker@reddit

Nothing. My collosal string of fuckups led me to my wife a decade ago & I'd have it no other way.
View on Reddit #10421555

WantAllMyGarmonbozia@reddit

Never stop drawing or creating art. It's a lot harder to get started again after a long dry spell. Learn about depression and seek help/therapy. Not be so weird around girls.
View on Reddit #10385185

anaphasedraws@reddit

It’s hard but it will come back. Inktober is coming up and there are really good prompts and challenges for that on Insta! Or do a class. Or go to a museum and draw sculptures like you’d do in a figure drawing class. Or animals in a natural history museum. (I’m an art teacher & just want everyone to draw if they love and miss it.) 🖤
View on Reddit #10421500

cyclepoet77@reddit

So many things... Topping the list would be to not go to college, at least right out of high school, and relatedly to have gone to a school that wasn't so close (1 1/2 hrs) from my hometown. Kept me in New England and I've never left.
View on Reddit #10421101

w3woody@reddit

I would have fought harder to stop gaining weight after I stopped running thanks to knee pain.
View on Reddit #10421061

AngryWombat78@reddit

Take better care of my teeth, get that apprenticeship that my anxiety stopped me getting. Not marry my first wife. Although the mother of my kids is the bane of my existence, I’d still have kids with her. Be more aware of when women are actually interested vs just being friendly (I always assume friendly until proven otherwise) Get a house as soon as possible, and start renovating and flipping them. Travel more.
View on Reddit #10420867

Life-Unit-4118@reddit

A million things. And nothing. Does that make any sense?
View on Reddit #10420566

scarybari@reddit

I'd have bought the (if memory serves) 100 or so Bitcoin a friend was offering in like 2010-2012 for $250, which I thought was "just too risky."
View on Reddit #10420428

MintyRosa77@reddit

I would have kids after I was 35. Learn a trade before going to college. Wait to get into a relationship. Learn to play an instrument Buy Bay Area real estate in the 90s Get my boobs done
View on Reddit #10419991

boop1976@reddit

EVERYTHING
View on Reddit #10419703

Pccaerocat@reddit

Just about everything
View on Reddit #10419604

nborders@reddit

Tell a few people along my journey to fuck off and get out of the way.
View on Reddit #10419379

0x7E7-02@reddit

Keep my fucking mouth shut more often.
View on Reddit #10419250

ElleGeeAitch@reddit

Not gain so much damned weight 😕.
View on Reddit #10419225

GRMNTOY@reddit

Never marry.
View on Reddit #10419196

Ok-Session445@reddit

Ohh, so many… can I just put another couple of quarters in?
View on Reddit #10419138

followedbyferrets@reddit

Travel more. Expand my social circles. Study harder. Started a business.
View on Reddit #10418869

Bunnyfartz@reddit

Invest sooner. I'd be retired by now.
View on Reddit #10418653

kgohlsen@reddit

I wish I had pursued a career where I could retire earlier.
View on Reddit #10418123

4gent0r4ng3@reddit

Buy a bunch of Bitcoin when I first heard about it.
View on Reddit #10417940

littlefriend77@reddit

Dedicated myself to baseball instead of drugs and pussy. There would have been plenty of time for that later.
View on Reddit #10417889

OkAssistance3201@reddit

Start taking antidepressants sooner.
View on Reddit #10417824

weight22@reddit

Wear sunscreen!
View on Reddit #10417187

Taminella_Grinderfal@reddit

Not start drinking. When you’re 20 you think you have all the time in the world….now I think of all the time and energy I wasted on partying and hangovers. Was some of it fun? Definitely. But there were better things I could have done with all that time. Second, learn about careers when I was in hs. I came from a pretty blue collar family and had no idea what I was supposed to “do”. I have a good paying job that I stumbled into along the way, but sometimes wonder what else I could have done if I had some help finding direction when I was young.
View on Reddit #10385187

RexJoey1999@reddit

I have similar feelings about careers. My dad was an engineer and my mom (SAH) had a Master’s in English that my dad always said was worthless. Seriously? Well, I got through three semesters of engineering in college and then switched to English. But it was “worthless” and so I got no support. I couldn’t pass Calculus! I hated myself! I’d been an honors student in Hs and failing (and flailing) was killing me! No one guided me on what to do with an English degree. Not even my college counselor! How about some ideas: Technical writer and use that engineering knowledge to some good? Journalism? Paralegal? Lawyer? Maybe study a foreign language and become a translator? I’m currently a copyeditor who is under employed. I’ve had stints in marketing and sales and none was perfect for me, and I’ve never made a good income. Blargh.
View on Reddit #10404549

Fabulous_Category_32@reddit

Creative Writing major here. I hear all this! I did briefly work in technical writing and translation, as well as marketing… but the corporate incarnations of writing jobs made me crazy, and the more creative job paths paid so poorly I had to live at home again which also made me crazy… And as a single mom with no serious life partners to split bills with, I never really figured out a solution to that one. I transitioned to public school ESL teaching, but in my area that was just war zone slave labor disguised as a “good” job with benefits. After pandemic death spiral I now work as a cashier and a flunkey at a community college, and decent jobs are so rare where I live that I’m interviewing tomorrow for an “inclusion helper” position that pays minimum wage and only requires a high school diploma. Luckily my loans for my master’s and post-master’s classes are on the $0 a month income-sensitive repayment plan. Just gotta figure out what next… gotta find something that pays a living wage without trying to kill my body and my spirit!!
View on Reddit #10417040

Ambrosia_the_Greek@reddit

Glad to see, I'm not alone in my sentiments here! A few things I would change, if I could go back: 1. Fuck all credit cards. 2. Go out of state for college. There was no reason for me to stay home--I was just feeling insecure about being so far away from my tiny world as I knew it. I really needed that life experience and exposure. 3. Finish college as early as possible, especially since I qualified for more government grants than student loans back in the day (late 90s, early aughts). When I finally completed my degree a few years ago, it cost me a pretty penny. I will say that I'm grateful that I never really got into the drinking and drug scene in my early years. At least not until I was in my mid 30s anyways 😆!
View on Reddit #10417008

CinnamonHeartCrow@reddit

Not listen to creeps who told me I couldn't.
View on Reddit #10416425

Moosehagger@reddit

Buy, keep buying and holding Apple and Microsoft stock when it came out.
View on Reddit #10416418

SlackerInCharge@reddit

Take better care of my teeth, wear sunscreen every day, been more promiscuous, saved money and invested early in life, not cared what people thought of me, never smoked.
View on Reddit #10416163

PGHNeil@reddit

I'd ask out the hot girl who was in the drama club in high school and take the beating just as I was forced to take all the others. That would have inspired to me to get even instead of basically just running away after graduation. Better to date an actual drama queen with experience on the stage than a wannabe just looking for attention later on.
View on Reddit #10416124

The_ZombyWoof@reddit

The caveat to this is: Am I doing it all over again WITH all the knowledge and life experience I now possess? If yes, then: * Work harder in school, get better grades * Find a marketable skill early in life. Work hard. Try to find a way to own your own business in that field. * Practice good hygiene. Like, fucking shower more than once a week, kiddo. * Stop being afraid to talk to girls. That said, don't have a serious girlfriend until college. Miss all that high school drama. * Stand up to bullies. * Practice kindness. * Learn the guitar or piano. Either one, get that music out there if I can. Otherwise, if I'm just reliving it for the sake of reliving it, then fuck that shit, I'll pass.
View on Reddit #10382679

AllLemonsNoLemonade@reddit

Definitely stand up to the bullies. iIt would have been worth it getting my ass kicked a few times rather than live in fear.
View on Reddit #10415288

The_ZombyWoof@reddit

Totally!
View on Reddit #10415924

GogglesPisano@reddit

I wasted much of my first year of college social life in a doomed and angst-ridden attempt to maintain a long-distance relationship with a high school girlfriend who was away at another distant school. Of course it turned out she was cheating on me for most of that time (although looking back on it now, I don’t really blame her - we should have just broken it off when college started). So much fun avoided and opportunities wasted in the name of staying faithful. All for the best - after we finally broke it off I eventually met an amazing woman at my school and we’re still together 30+ years later.
View on Reddit #10415539

genxyears@reddit

This wins
View on Reddit #10405742

newwriter365@reddit

Agree with the dating comment 💯 My mom was 19 when she married, so the idea of learning to be me first, then developing relationships was not anything that I was going to hear about at home. If I had it to do again, no high school dating Focus on same gender friendships first. Dating, not until third year of college. I also should have gone away to college, borrowed money to do so, and never returned “home”. I did a good job of moving away, but not until I was thirty.
View on Reddit #10388863

mynameisreeves@reddit

I would probably go to a different college. I often tell people that I chose my alma mater for the wrong reason. I went there to try to impress a teacher. It ended up being a great experience but it was not a school i had heard of or even researched. In the end, it worked out but knowing what I know NOW, I would definitely went somewhere else.
View on Reddit #10415506

legend72@reddit

Buy Apple stock
View on Reddit #10415473

Luvzalaff75@reddit

Never get married
View on Reddit #10415418

Kbcolas73@reddit

Not smoke cigarettes
View on Reddit #10415277

AllLemonsNoLemonade@reddit

Invest early and often.
View on Reddit #10415103

thelonegunmanbullet@reddit

Say NO! to credit cards...
View on Reddit #10414952

BanGreedNightmare@reddit

I’d care less about what I think others think and be kinder to myself and not dwell on trivial things and forgive myself and not worry about being perfect. But then I’d remember that there’s nothing stopping this from happening right now but me - so I’ll say knees as well. I’d be better to my knees.
View on Reddit #10414881

Thirdeye242@reddit

I would invest in Pfizer. And maybe apple? Haha
View on Reddit #10414825

19century_space_girl@reddit

I wouldn't start a family so young, and I'd have money to invest in Microsoft when it went public.
View on Reddit #10414582

NewfyMommy@reddit

I would not date K. i would not become anorexic which haunted me for over twenty years as an addiction and it caused a lot of damage to my body
View on Reddit #10414249

GaRGa77@reddit

Doing it differently would be less fun
View on Reddit #10414088

Tanglrfoot@reddit

In hindsight I would not have raced dirt bikes in the 80’s . My knees, shoulders and one hip are screwed because of the injuries I took racing . I’m 55 and on a waiting list to have both knees and a hip replaced .
View on Reddit #10413798

MarknDC@reddit

Not sign that cash advance offer from Household Finance at 23% interest. I was 40 when I finally paid it off.
View on Reddit #10413768

UnmutualOne@reddit

I would have asked her out.
View on Reddit #10413552

rare_meeting1978@reddit

I would stay away from drugs, my husband would be the only guy I bothered with, and spend more time focused on getting exercise and living healthily. The fun was great and I have loads of great memories, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be improved, and that's how I would improve it.
View on Reddit #10413512

domesticatedprimate@reddit

Maybe I'm compartmentalizing or suppressing or whatever you call it, but I don't have any real regrets. I've made plenty of mistakes, including some big ones and some that continue to effect me, but I'm satisfied with where I am in life and I don't necessarily think anything would be better if I could go back and fix those mistakes. Things would just be different. So, no regrets. I just work with what I got and move forward.
View on Reddit #10413324

dontlookback76@reddit

I would have seen a psychiatrist and therapist starting on my very early 20s. I'm bipolar with a couple of different depressions thrown in. I would've known what to tell the pdoc to get help. It's been a long process from my late 30s to 47. I didn't know what to tell the doctors when I started. I thought everyone went through what I went through and I beat myself up that I couldn't just man up. With bipolar under control I may not have become an alcoholic, and I never would have tried to kill myself through diet to induce a massive heart attack. My mind still may have imploded, but the manic decisions I made left my family in financial peril fir the rest of my wife's and my life. Thus tear I ended up with a heart attack, triple bypass, COPD, congestive heart failure, mobility problems, and brain damage. I have no one to blame but me ultimately but my mental health exacerbated things.
View on Reddit #10413217

rshaneh@reddit

One thing I would've done differently when I was way too young and irresponsible to be making decisions like that. But my life has been a blessing. Wonderful marriage of 30+ years. Two terrific kids building lives of their own now. Made mistakes and count myself damned lucky. I've seen a lot, done a lot: regret none and embrace it all.
View on Reddit #10413023

Vesuvius99@reddit

Kept playing drums gotten good enough to play in a bar band. I started playing again a few years ago but will never be in a band I expect. Think it would have been fun
View on Reddit #10412847

Icehotel1@reddit

I would have addressed my mental health (depression) sooner in life. It caused me to make poor choices. Some I feel the effects of even today. Thankfully I've been on meds for a while now and life has been much better.
View on Reddit #10383488

anonymousloser000@reddit

Same, along with ADHD. I cry to think about how different my life could've been.
View on Reddit #10399577

gjloh26@reddit

Omigosh, me too! I cannot imagine how different my life would have been if I had learned about my depression and anxiety, and how it was a by product of my ADHD. Now that I think about it, I could have done more with my life at an earlier stage and achieved more. Only learned I had ADHD in my 40'.
View on Reddit #10412538

emmany63@reddit

Same. Glad you’re doing better. I try to remember not to get mad at myself for not knowing what I didn’t know when I didn’t know it… but it’s not easy. I’ve had a lot of “if only I’d realized sooner…” nights.
View on Reddit #10386110

coucherdesoleil@reddit

This is exactly me. Glad you're doing better!
View on Reddit #10385379

Hurryupslowdownbar20@reddit

Getting married
View on Reddit #10412537

amiwitty@reddit

Studied better and did better in high school. Got a good degree in college. Got a job in a place I enjoy living.
View on Reddit #10412410

WillaLane@reddit

Cut the toxic people out sooner
View on Reddit #10412340

RustedRelics@reddit

Career choice. College choice. Financial choices. First marriage. Shall I go on…? Lol
View on Reddit #10412217

Entire-Ad-5718@reddit

Do more coke and heroin.
View on Reddit #10412174

apearlmae@reddit

I wouldn't have gone to college. I wasn't ready and I never finished.
View on Reddit #10411963

Johnny_Bugg@reddit

Less drinking, less pot, no cigarettes. My kids are the greatest joy to ever happen to me so the path is the path. But practice music more instead of being drunk or high. I still work as a professional musician, albeit part part time now, but oh the wasted years...
View on Reddit #10411951

MyriVerse2@reddit

No major regrets.
View on Reddit #10411616

Ok_Resolution_5537@reddit

Marry rich.
View on Reddit #10411509

ThePythiaofApollo@reddit

Maybe go out with the nerd who would have worshipped me and grew up to be a millionaire instead of the bad boy with the motorcycle who grew up to live in a trailer park.
View on Reddit #10411460

DustyHound@reddit

Fuck off social life and study more.
View on Reddit #10411163

Recent-Championship7@reddit

Talk to the ladies. Well, more than I did anyway. Late bloomer.
View on Reddit #10410748

ExtraSolarian@reddit

Not Marry that bitch, then join Air Force instead of Army
View on Reddit #10410588

kegsbdry@reddit

Ask out my high school to crush
View on Reddit #10410540

artsy7fartsy@reddit

No credit cards
View on Reddit #10410283

Dull-Objective3967@reddit

Start therapy as soon as i neded it, childhood trauma messed me up. Now i can sleep at night.
View on Reddit #10410257

GreenArcher808@reddit

Not regret per se but I wish I’d followed my dream to make art and possibly continue acting. My uncle was a struggling artist (who went on to work for Disney and own a house in the Pasadena hills IYKYK), and prior to his success my parents always pointed to him and said “You want to end up like him?” I was too dumb and naive to go against them and instead spent the next 25 years toiling in poverty wages in my chosen field. I wish I’d gone after what I wanted when I had the chance.
View on Reddit #10410194

metooneither@reddit

Invest in Apple when it was 50 cents a share and not smoke.
View on Reddit #10410148

djkutch@reddit

Voting Democrat
View on Reddit #10410108

Grumpy-0ld-Guy@reddit

Get rid of all my friends.
View on Reddit #10410090

ItzAlwayz420@reddit

I wouldn’t marry again. I’d stay single.
View on Reddit #10410077

myoldisnew@reddit

I wouldn’t get married in my 20’s. I would believe in my own (proven) abilities more than I did.
View on Reddit #10409995

Jack1935@reddit

I would have stayed with Chuck.
View on Reddit #10409751

Emunaandbitachon@reddit

Almost every last thing
View on Reddit #10409492

likewhenyoupee@reddit

Not smoke all that pot in high school and junior high. Made me a worthless slacker and now I’m paying for it
View on Reddit #10409439

Graphdesyo@reddit

Stay in school and start therapy as a teenager.
View on Reddit #10409366

bjpmbw@reddit

Treat my teeth better. It is costing me so much time and $ now.
View on Reddit #10409265

gypsy611@reddit

There are many things I would do differently. I think anyone that tells you they wouldn’t is fooling themselves. I spent most of my early adulthood feeling lost, alone, and scared. Because of that, I made choices out of fear and decisions out of desperation. I live with regret so deep it’s hard to even face sometimes. I wish I wouldn’t have turned out to be someone that knew what it was like to live with that inside. I guess we learn to play the hand we’re given, though.
View on Reddit #10408787

poyerdude@reddit

Invest heavily in Apple and Amazon when they were $2 a share.
View on Reddit #10408774

ccc2801@reddit

Travel more when I was in my 20s instead of focusing on career and studies.
View on Reddit #10408750

Woodythdog@reddit

[Alan Akron said it best in little miss sunshine](https://youtube.com/shorts/L2-6K4ubsKY?si=ZkfQ3XQudFlOamet)
View on Reddit #10408643

Proud-Tie557@reddit

moving to europe and leaving it all behind like i wanted..
View on Reddit #10408599

longleggedwader@reddit

Not a goddam thing. I love my life exactly as it happened, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I regret nothing.
View on Reddit #10387223

cynicismandsteaks@reddit

I agree completely! I love who I am and it wouldn't have been possible without all my life experiences. Life is too short for regrets.
View on Reddit #10408429

KatPaws11@reddit

Not waste a second on things or people that I thought mattered
View on Reddit #10408336

KatPaws11@reddit

E V E R Y T H I N G
View on Reddit #10408277

amalgaman@reddit

I would have stayed in shape after high school. I would have done my first relationship better. Also, I would have handled the end of my marriage differently.
View on Reddit #10407772

Pittiemomma73@reddit

Would have managed my weight and health better. I would have traveled alot more when I was younger I would have stayed home alot longer with my kids rather than going back to work.
View on Reddit #10407753

Square_Republic_8036@reddit

As a kid, study more and follow my dreams instead of what I was told I should do or could be. Not marry the idiot. Not waste 6 years with the next guy when I knew it was going nowhere. Not allow both of them to destroy my self-confidence and trust. Stand up for myself and not allow myself to be a door mat and to believe in myself more. Not start smoking. Not drink. Look after my health more before 40. Learn about perimenopause before 35! Get to know my parents as people, who they were before me, before they died. Appreciate the time with my kids more. Give them more of my time and engagement when they were younger instead of worrying about work or socialising. Understand money more and how to use it better. Invest in my contuining knowledge more.
View on Reddit #10407669

Spridlewv@reddit

Basically everything from college forward.
View on Reddit #10407533

Tyrigoth@reddit

I would stay in the hard sciences. I changed my mind senior year and went into psychology. Not a bad field, but they don't tell you about the unspoken vow of poverty you take. I eventually found my way back to tech. Three times the money for half the work. :)
View on Reddit #10407477

cellshock7@reddit

I would have networked more. I was a bit anti-social. All that money to go to college and not realizing that that was one of the key advantages. I'd also have saved allllllllllllll that money I spent as a teen buying music, video games, and clothes and saved it/invested it.
View on Reddit #10407249

Mulliganplummer@reddit

I have a great life and at peace where I am at, so I would not change a thing. Any changes might change where I am at.
View on Reddit #10407112

revolutionoverdue@reddit

Take bigger chances, earlier.
View on Reddit #10406996

genxyears@reddit

I remember ages 11 to 28 being so miserable but I seriously have no idea what I was so sad about for so long. Then 28 to 31 being in some kind of emotions purgatory where I was very like warm about everything. I “woke up” at age 32 and it’s been a blast discovering myself. If I have any regrets it would have been 2013. I was around 38 and I sold a ton of bitcoin to renew Disneyland annual passes. Can I have a Mr Destiny moment to see what my life would look like now if I held on to that? 🤣
View on Reddit #10406980

Manwombat@reddit

Not smoke
View on Reddit #10406659

Ozymandias_Canceled@reddit

Join the Navy, or other armed service. Two of my three offspring are serving today, and it’s exciting and makes me so proud! I wish I would’ve done it.
View on Reddit #10406615

ElleKlee@reddit

Not take out student loans and credit cards like I was being given free money. Will likely be paying off my student loans until I die.
View on Reddit #10406429

SPacific@reddit

Take school more seriously, exercise more, not start smoking, go to college.
View on Reddit #10406308

JuicyApple2023@reddit

Never go to college. I would be a plumber instead.
View on Reddit #10406258

Maleficent_Youth_215@reddit

I don’t have regrets, but I would left my husband when our son was a baby. I think that would have saved both of us (my son and myself) a lot of pain. My ex has historically been and continues to be a train wreck. The absence of someone is better than their presence.
View on Reddit #10406093

lilesj130@reddit

1 - Go to the bigger college (yes it will be scary, that's okay) 2 - DO. NOT. MARRY. HIM.
View on Reddit #10405921

JackieDaytona__@reddit

Yes
View on Reddit #10405809

LoudLemming@reddit

Never given up on my first love.
View on Reddit #10405629

saislo@reddit

I wouldn't have some builder nail/glue boards on to the lovely floors in the bathrooms in the house I bought nearly 20 years back. Also I would have just gone it alone in my early twenties rather than feeling the need to get all settled into a life and career. But those bloody boards though... grrr.
View on Reddit #10405439

OtherworldDk@reddit

be less shy, be kind, dance more. Applied those to my life after turning 50, best decision ever
View on Reddit #10405325

cool_side_of_pillow@reddit

I wouldn’t tan as much, or at all, really. Just had my 3rd carcinoma removed.
View on Reddit #10405082

cool_side_of_pillow@reddit

Learn more about jobs with good benefits and pensions and long term savings instead of ignoring any advice related to my career (or lack thereof) in my 20s. Now that I’m pushing 50 it’s painful hearing about retirement plans of my peers who figured this out early on.
View on Reddit #10405026

g-e-o-f-f@reddit

Be better with money, invest better. Not buy a house in 2005.
View on Reddit #10405002

Mamaj12469@reddit

I’d take better care of myself. Exercising and eating better(and less).
View on Reddit #10404971

fridayimatwork@reddit

Not try to get a tan and dated the bodybuilder
View on Reddit #10404920

Revolutionary-Luck-1@reddit

I would’ve stayed single in my 20’s, live in a big, interesting city like NYC, LA, DC, Atlanta or Chicago and just enjoy being young and unencumbered. Instead I stayed in a boring Midwest town, got married at 23, had a child, then was divorced by 28. I spent the next 20 years grinding out a decent living for my child and me. My child is on her own and I’m doing fine, but I wish that I had made better decisions.
View on Reddit #10404841

nedgon@reddit

Set aside/invest 10% of my gross income as soon as I started working and never touch it. Had I done this I would have been able to retire at 55... freedom 75 here I come (unle,ss death gets me first) :/
View on Reddit #10404228

It_coulda_been_me@reddit

Joined the cross country team. Coach saw potential, I preferred ripping butts, watching mtv and chasing boys in my spare time.
View on Reddit #10404137

fattymcfattzz@reddit

Play football instead of wrestling
View on Reddit #10404003

jimb575@reddit

I should have married her, moved away and started a family.
View on Reddit #10403949

failed-celebrity@reddit

Career-wise, I think it would have been better for me to continue my Naval career. I enlisted for four years and then finished to use the GI Bill money for college. I worked for awhile and almost didn't get to use the money because I waited so long to go back to school. It would have been smarter for me to finish my enlistment, go straight to university, and then go back in to the military and eventually retire as an officer with all the benefits. I really didn't mind the Navy at all, and I think I would have done pretty well, but I was young and really just wanted other things at the time. I kind of regret that I wasn't forward thinking at all when I was 21 yo, haha.
View on Reddit #10403923

SonoranRadiance@reddit

I would not get married and I would finish college.
View on Reddit #10403770

Additional_Tax2073@reddit

Not mess up my body in the army. As a kid learn multiple languages since it was possible while growing up in Saudi Arabia. Spend my army pay buying oil stocks
View on Reddit #10403651

Mingey_FringeBiscuit@reddit

Waaaaaaaaaay less acid and speed.
View on Reddit #10403497

SaraSmilesssss@reddit

I would have prioritized my mental health and well-being more. I spent too much time prioritizing people who didn't prioritize me, and it cost me a lot in terms of wasted time, stress and drama. Wisdom is definitely wasted on us old folks.
View on Reddit #10403253

kc_redd@reddit

“I spent too much time prioritizing people who didn't prioritize me” Amen 🙏
View on Reddit #10403423

TheCircusSands@reddit

Bought more AAPL
View on Reddit #10403198

Chastity-76@reddit

I would be a celibate nerd who studied all the time and only cared about what would make me money in the future
View on Reddit #10403065

Mermaid_Lily@reddit

I would not get married at 19! I also would not have bought nearly so many overpriced clothes at the snobby store. I'd have taken that money and bought stock in Apple and Microsoft.
View on Reddit #10402979

violetcazador@reddit

Exact same life, but as the opposite gender.
View on Reddit #10402857

peaeyeparker@reddit

Join a trade union instead of going to college. I think about this everyday
View on Reddit #10402813

never_did_henry@reddit

Major in something marketable. Not liberal arts. I might have turned it into success but I had a TBI during graduate school. It took years to recover and when I returned nothing made sense to me anymore because of cognitive defecits from the TBI. But since I held onto that dream for so long, I didn't want to quit. I finished the degree (M.A.)in 8 years, but after being hopelessly lost on the comprehensive exam it sunk in that I couldn't use it. I had thrown away my 30s on a dream that couldn't have been realized and I lost valuable time where I could have been building a career. It destroyed me really and I've never told anyone that before.
View on Reddit #10402395

crazy-diam0nd@reddit

I would apply myself earlier. In the late 70s/through the 80s, most of the entertainment we consumed portrayed the hero as a golden boy who would flout the rules, smart talk the boss, dress unconventionally, and was totally untouchable in his field of expertise. Everyone wanted to be those guys. Only one I can think of now is Hawkeye from MASH, but I know they were all over the place. I feel like I got the edgy humor part, and the irreverence for authority, and the wacky styles, but missed the part where that person was the BEST IN THE WORLD AT WHAT THEY DID. So while I never mastered a field of study like, well, anything, I kind of fancied myself the coolest guy in the room, and I'm pretty sure I was usually the most obvious incompetent.
View on Reddit #10402382

cruddy_mooth@reddit

I would have stuck to smoking gange to come down after a rave instead of getting on heroin and my life would be a million times different but hey,its done now and I'm dealing with it with humility and a smile.
View on Reddit #10402158

Alchemister5@reddit

I would have bought apple stock.
View on Reddit #10402018

Rubberbangirl66@reddit

Let go of my exes, and never look back
View on Reddit #10401952

daisy_glazed@reddit

This is a bit of a different answer from what you're requesting, but I've thought about this all my life and there's just one thing I wish I could go back and change. If I could go back to age seven, I would *never ever ever* suggest to my mom that we were walking on the wrong side of the road. Here's an edited version of why. That day my mom had taken my neighbor's daughter (Kate, 9-ish) and me to a bird park. Due to unforeseen circumstances we ran into a transportation issue that resulted in us taking the bus back, which meant a long walk into our (private) neighborhood. (Mom's car died as we were about to leave for the park, my stepdad drove us but had prior engagements, so her stepmum was supposed to pick us up, but the call wouldn't go through and it turned out one of the extensions had been left off the hook.) As we disembarked and walked a few steps I remembered a lesson we'd recently learned in class about always facing oncoming traffic and I voiced my concern. Mom agreed, as we'd need to cross over anyway to get to our entrance, so we promptly did. Seconds later a drunk driver emerged from an avenue and ploughed right into us. This set off an insane chain of events: I was sandwiched between my mum and Kate and was physically unharmed. We all lost consciousness, however, and some busybody (perhaps?) immediately went to our home and told my step-grandma that we'd just been killed in a car crash. She died instantly from the shock. Mom's leg was badly damaged and required multiple surgeries. (Never fully recovered.) Kate's collarbone was broken. Her parents blamed my mum and it ended their friendship. When my mom had to go back in for surgery a few weeks later my stepdad was overseas, so I stayed with one of her friends from work, who was married with two daughters slightly older than I was. One night while her husband and I were watching tv alone after everyone else had gone to bed he put his hand under my skirt and asked if I could keep a secret. I don't remember much else, or anything else about the visit for that matter. Weeks later I finally broke down and told my mum. She went ballistic. Confronted the husband and he denied it but apparently his wife believed me. She left him and took the girls, but it effectively ended her friendship with my mum. I had continual flashbacks to that night in my teens and early 20s and I always suspect it's the reason I always had to get drunk or high to be intimate. My mom was anti-therapy ("there's a stigma," she'd say) so I tried to cope. Once I tried to talk to her about it - I was about 17 - and she told me to put it behind me and move on. I swallowed a bottle of pills that night. She freaked out and cried a lot but still wouldn't talk about it. She acknowledged that I was suffering from depression but other than one laughable session with a Christian psychologist and an attempt to reconcile with my bio-dad for my benefit, she pretty much gave up. (She died a couple years later so there's no hope for resolution.) I'm convinced that a lot of my neuroses stem from that period of childhood. I spent most of my 20s and 30s in and out of psych wards, on and off psych meds, and nothing ever helped. The issue has still never been addressed. There are times I'm even convinced that we DID die in that accident and everything afterwards is some hellish alternate universe. I remember being happy before then. If I could do anything again I'd go back to that day in the late seventies and keep my damn mouth shut.
View on Reddit #10401933

notjewel@reddit

Worn ear plugs to concerts. Never stopped piano lessons. Left Texas a lot earlier. Not have lost my virginity to my boyfriend at a damn high school party like some bad John Hughes movie 🤦‍♀️
View on Reddit #10401735

kjb76@reddit

I’d have exercised more, and taken advantage of off the great opportunities my university had to offer. I partied to much and ended up with not so great grades. I also would have avoided a dead end relationship that ate up most of my 20s.
View on Reddit #10401503

Blurghblagh@reddit

Pretty much everything.
View on Reddit #10401468

NoPoliticalParties@reddit

So many regrets. I couldn’t begin to list them. I guess that’s the difference between the experience that comes with age and mistakes, and being young and dumb.
View on Reddit #10401400

karmakazi_@reddit

I would say I should have left my ex way earlier but then I wouldn't have my daughter and I would never want a life that she is not in. Maybe I should have been more cut throat in building my business but I like what I've built. So I guess the answer is no I wouldn't have done anything differently.
View on Reddit #10401321

Paid_Idiot@reddit

Not do hard drugs.
View on Reddit #10401252

Ok-Banana-7777@reddit

Not cared so much about anything that happened in high school. I'm trying to impart that on my 17 year old daughter now.
View on Reddit #10401209

davdev@reddit

If it aren’t for my kids There was one night with one girl I would do entirely differently just to see how everything changes.
View on Reddit #10401181

karen_h@reddit

I would have connected with those kids that traveled the world with backpacks, and traveled more. I would have lived outside the country in different places. I started traveling in my late 40s, and it’s been eye opening. I also wouldn’t have bought into the whole “loyalty to your company” crap which made me accept low pay and long hours. I would have done more job hopping.
View on Reddit #10401107

Nikademus1969@reddit

Come out sooner. I was almost 30 when I did. I could have avoided some unnecessary mess had I come out even 5 years sooner...
View on Reddit #10401015

WileyCoyote7@reddit

Be a better dad when my son was a little kid. I was too busy “making up for lost time.” I would literally give all that I have to go back and do it right.
View on Reddit #10400954

JediKrys@reddit

Less drinking and partying in my 20s, more focus on saving money and getting a degee. Way way less focus on my family relationship or lack there of. Therapy much earlier.
View on Reddit #10400771

sterling3274@reddit

I'd eat better and stay in shape and all that. But really, I would have cultivated more relationships and kept in contact with more friends. I wouldn't have been such an immature dick to an old girlfriend. I would have thought more about the future when I made decisions. But most of all I would never have married my ex-wife. I love my three kids, and I hate that this sounds like I regret them, because I don't at all, but fuck that bitch.
View on Reddit #10400682

No_Maintenance_9608@reddit

Be more extroverted in high school and college, and have more of a social life in my 20s.
View on Reddit #10400607

Alpinebolt@reddit

Not cashed out my 401ks or bought Microsoft or home depot.stock
View on Reddit #10400543

IthurielSpear@reddit

I wouldn’t have gotten married so young and instead gone to college
View on Reddit #10400533

Karzaad@reddit

Education.
View on Reddit #10400512

violetauto@reddit

I regret (rue?) I didn't know more. I regret I didn't know exactly how fucking shitty my parents were. If I knew that, my life would've taken a totally better turn.
View on Reddit #10400434

Soulpatch77@reddit

Do a trade instead of a dumb 4-yr BS in Biology, take care of my teeth & get the F out of church.
View on Reddit #10400415

AhMoonBeam@reddit

Not sure if this counts.. but pick the winning lotto numbers correctly a few times and donate chunks of cash to my favorite not for profits.
View on Reddit #10400408

Cheap_Opinion_2640@reddit

Everything.
View on Reddit #10400357

PortentProper@reddit

I would have started therapy with the on-campus services as soon as I got to college. My childhood was rough.
View on Reddit #10400284

Waltzing_Methusalah@reddit

Not get married the first time. I was way too young, didn’t know who I was or what I stood for. I married her because I was starstruck, I couldn’t believe that someone as amazing as her wanted me. Well…that led to 5 rocky years of us disappointing each other, and not knowing how to communicate our wants and needs. We were never a team, and I’ve long ago come to grips with my insecurities and assumptions that played into that. A do-over for me would have saved me years of pain and therapy.
View on Reddit #10400203

HavingNotAttained@reddit

Put my career first.
View on Reddit #10386418

Voltron1993@reddit

I would do the opposite…..put my personal life, friends and family first. When my dad passed, he never brought up work or his career. It was always family and his regrets of not prioritizing his personal life first.
View on Reddit #10388278

HavingNotAttained@reddit

Yeah that's what they tell me but I've had some experience with supporting or satisfying individuals who were invested in what I can do for them rather than what I wanted to do for/with myself, and it took me decades to see that. And now I'm not too far from retirement, having essentially lived someone else's life. My advice to youth: do whatever you want with your life; if anyone tells you different, get as far away from them as you possibly can—emotionally, physically, literally in every conceivable way.
View on Reddit #10398278

Voltron1993@reddit

Yeah, putting time into personal stuff because someone else wants you to is not the same. It has to be something you want to do and value. It can also the same for career. I saw someone else further down this thread say they wish they stayed in Engineering vs going into the IT field, because someone pressured them into it.
View on Reddit #10400145

Rudyinparis@reddit

Really think it through and don’t marry him. Have higher standards.
View on Reddit #10400004

kitty-yaya@reddit

Rebel and "live" more, challenge my parents' overprotectiveness, and have more confidence.
View on Reddit #10399994

SadieSchatzie@reddit

Would have started an index fund from 20-30 and be set Would have never returned to the states
View on Reddit #10399987

OutrageousPersimmon3@reddit

Definitely wouldn’t have spent so much time waiting for the right time. I don’t live that way anymore, but would be living differently had I changed sooner.
View on Reddit #10399914

Excusemytootie@reddit

I would have taken better care of my skin and focused more on nutrition. I would have taken more risks in most aspects of my life. Although this one is difficult. I am very thankful for the life I am living now, so I wouldn’t want it to change very much, changing *anything* would likely put me on another path so never mind.
View on Reddit #10399688

classicsat@reddit

Go put more often in my younger days. Build up my social circle.
View on Reddit #10399497

33Wolverine33@reddit

I’d go to school for Computer science over going into the medical field. I would have spent more time with my dad while he was still here. I’d invest heavily in Apple and Google. Not in that order though.
View on Reddit #10399408

Tonythecritic@reddit

I woulldn't, waste my time with College. All it did was waste my time and LOTS of money. I've had several jobs I adored and excelled at, none of them ever required a college education. My MAIN career has always been to be a dad to my kids, and the job only serves to pay the bills. I'm not saying no one should go to college, I'm saying I went because "that's what you do" and not what I really wanted to do.
View on Reddit #10399289

cherposton@reddit

I would've agreed to therapy after being molested for years. I might have avoided mental illness and a host of other problems.
View on Reddit #10399158

OldPuppy00@reddit

I was born dead and I curse the people who have forced me to breathe and to eat. I still have no interest in food/eating as such and I have no circadian rhythm. I was meant to be born and die, not to last in a life of constant misery.
View on Reddit #10398959

sully213@reddit

I was so apathetic I let my body/health go to shit in my 20's. I was an athletic guy in HS and then I just didn't care anymore. Then spent the latter half of my 30's through now trying to fight back. Ughh, way easier to have maintained health than to overcome bad health.
View on Reddit #10398951

clejeune@reddit

So many things. I would have hung out with a different crowd and made different choices in my young adulthood. So that I didn’t spend two years in prison. I would have married my high school sweetheart instead of running off to another state. I would have targeted education very early on that could get me a real career. I eventually did that but I wasted a lot of years first.
View on Reddit #10398852

SmoothIndication8403@reddit

I wouldn't have kids. Plain and simple. No need to explain why. I love my kids but wouldn't have any given a second chance.
View on Reddit #10398813

Regular_Towel_6898@reddit

Not a single second. All of it exactly the same
View on Reddit #10398744

Techelife@reddit

The question should be, what if you live to 150? What are you going to do now?
View on Reddit #10398689

Nopedontcarez@reddit

I would have bought all that Apple stock at $9 instead of Dell
View on Reddit #10398535

SunshynePower@reddit

I wish I had more confidence. I was too quick to let others walk all over me. However, I'm very aware of some significant life lessons that I only learned through the hardship. So, I'm not sure my wish translates into changing anything.
View on Reddit #10398508

ChrisRiley_42@reddit

I'd have dumped my entire college fund into the Microsoft and Google IPO ;)
View on Reddit #10398474

brandnewspacemachine@reddit

Never abandoned the music major and i should have said no to birth control pills and SSRIs from the very beginning.
View on Reddit #10398441

MissDisplaced@reddit

I would have found a way to go to college at 18 without my parents help. I would have been so much further ahead had I done so. I worked so many years in shit jobs.
View on Reddit #10398301

Rad2474@reddit

Fight my stepdad. He wasn’t that tough.
View on Reddit #10398249

Tokogogoloshe@reddit

I wouldn’t have wasted over ten years of my life in a dead end job because it paid well and was safe.
View on Reddit #10397896

Junior_Fun_2840@reddit

I wouldn't go to art school. I'd choose a more practical major & minor in art.
View on Reddit #10397849

borderlineidiot@reddit

No regrets, I have messed up many things but you can't dwell in the past and wallow in self pity - at some point you need to move on and accept you messed up and that is part of what made you the person you are.
View on Reddit #10397637

CertainlyUncertain4@reddit

Get married earlier
View on Reddit #10397627

phydeauxfromubuntu@reddit

I would have followed my gut instead of taking the advice of older generations to heart. It made them happy, but it consistently made my life more difficult and less joyful than it could have been.
View on Reddit #10397464

Distinct-Engineer889@reddit

I would get on the bus and go home. I have weed at home. And he really has no idea where to get weed. He's not friends with my friends, he's only acquainted with them.
View on Reddit #10397322

dirtycrabcakes@reddit

Wish I would have dedicated more time to my artistic side at a younger age.
View on Reddit #10397312

zendaddy76@reddit

Make more money, choose the girl I wanted to marry
View on Reddit #10397278

Terrible_Mongoose_17@reddit

Not go to college. What a waste of time and money. I just retired early at age 54 and not a single thing I did all my life required the college degree I worked so hard to get
View on Reddit #10397214

Nij-megan@reddit

Not become a Christian in HS. Spent extra 20 years trying to please my parents. Boomers don’t care.
View on Reddit #10397188

RodneyJamesEdgar@reddit

Invest in this weird new company called Google. Oh, and that failed computer company ….Apple
View on Reddit #10385484

macphile@reddit

I put money in Apple in the early 2000s, and it's been a huge percentage of my total portfolio, even though I've sold a little off a couple of times. Obviously, putting money in it earlier, or in Microsoft, would have been great, but then I didn't have the money or legal age then, I guess.
View on Reddit #10386921

RodneyJamesEdgar@reddit

That’s awesome! I get sick each time I think of all the money I wasted on booze that could’ve gone into an early Google
View on Reddit #10397187

grandtheftbonsai@reddit

Nothing. It's been a hell of a ride.
View on Reddit #10386397

paloma_sprite@reddit

Amor Fati. <3
View on Reddit #10397112

sissybicucktx@reddit

If I could start again, a million miles away I would keep myself. I would find a way. -- Trent Reznor
View on Reddit #10385155

paloma_sprite@reddit

That song and particularly that line, always breaks my heart. Pure pain.
View on Reddit #10396905

Hairy-Refuse-3655@reddit

Johnny Cash owns that song now. His version is gut wrenching
View on Reddit #10393816

Powerful_Ad_2506@reddit

Trent is Gen-X’s spirit animal.
View on Reddit #10388538

TiredinUtah@reddit

Not drop out of school and not get married. I regret both. I'd be in a much better place now. Much better.
View on Reddit #10396700

Beegkitty@reddit

Same friend. Same. My current husband is amazing. My two children are worth it all. BUT. I would be in an entirely different place.
View on Reddit #10396863

MsJenX@reddit

Not use credit cards.
View on Reddit #10396823

413Refugee@reddit

Stay in shape. That’s it.
View on Reddit #10396809

staceyehle@reddit

Wait to get married
View on Reddit #10396652

Sl0w-Plant@reddit

Nothing. Absolutely change nothing. I may have my head in the clouds most of the time but my feet are firmly planted on the ground...
View on Reddit #10396448

Jeheh@reddit

I joined the Army after Hs because I didn’t want to go to college. I had the scores to pick almost any job they had to offer but I just didn’t want to be in school. I should’ve sucked it up and taken them up on it anyway and learned to fly helicopters. What a fucking moron.
View on Reddit #10396446

NoAbbreviations290@reddit

Not get arrested so much.
View on Reddit #10396091

ExploreTrails@reddit

Now that Im older and more informed I would grieve my father in a different, less harmful way and allow myself to make better use of my opportunities. It was hard losing him at that age and I just threw everything into the wind.
View on Reddit #10396078

Infometiculous@reddit

I wish I could've opened up more to my mom when I was a kid, especially about her choices in men. There's a chance I could have been a trust fund stepchild. My universe would have expanded exponentially.
View on Reddit #10396023

818Dude@reddit

It took me 30+ years to figure out my self esteem was low as fuck. My dad beat my ass to a pulp almost everyday. It wasn’t until I had kids, and saw how my son (who looks exactly like me) is extremely popular, has girlfriends lined up, and had no issues talking to people.
View on Reddit #10395961

sarahskinskywalker@reddit

Freeze my eggs.
View on Reddit #10395823

SaltwaterCures@reddit

Go to college in Europe and stay there.
View on Reddit #10395626

1Mthrowaway@reddit

Buy Microsoft/Google/Facebook etc stock
View on Reddit #10395614

ProneToDoThatThing@reddit

Come out earlier. Not been the peace keeper in every relationship. Learned what careers are available before choosing one. Had a slut phase. Taken my time in college. Maybe a gap year. Always ask for more money. Not tanned.
View on Reddit #10395552

Anxious-Wrongdoer770@reddit

Never ever drink alcohol…
View on Reddit #10395504

cavemanleong@reddit

Start investing and building my nest egg sooner.
View on Reddit #10395463

Trottin_Trollop405@reddit

I would have learned a trade at the vo-tech while it was still on the public school systems dime. I wouldn’t have gotten married to get out of the house. I would have gotten the hell of Oklahoma.
View on Reddit #10395435

InsanoVolcano@reddit

Don't swing to the extremes of social selection. At times, I was too afraid of being seen with uncool people, and then I was too permissive and was taken advantage of. Maintain a steady level of social wisdom.
View on Reddit #10395427

writergal75@reddit

I would’ve been kinder.
View on Reddit #10395267

LeoMarius@reddit

I would have gone to a different university and come out much earlier.
View on Reddit #10395170

17megahertz@reddit

I would've stuck with a musical instrument decades ago, so that I could've been part of a band or whatever, just for fun, all these years, to have that "let's get together and jam" creative and social outlet. Also: I would've become financially literate before graduating high school.
View on Reddit #10395133

IYFS88@reddit

Not saving money! I could’ve been a rich woman if I’d been smarter about certain windfalls and advantages when I was young, not to mention having zero deducted for savings for all of my working life (until lately).
View on Reddit #10395125

DaisyJane1@reddit

Not been so shy. I missed out on a lot because of it.
View on Reddit #10394910

Jinsai@reddit

Take more risks and have more fun. Risk failure when the consequences were low. Appreciated my youth and beauty and accepted the love people offered. Started therapy.
View on Reddit #10394867

gotchafaint@reddit

What's the point of being young if not to massively fuck up over and over. I am forged from mistakes and regret lol.
View on Reddit #10394828

YoDoofus@reddit

Not listen to my wife then gf and pull out
View on Reddit #10394723

Avasia1717@reddit

i wouldn’t listen to my mom
View on Reddit #10381898

Johnnyhellhole@reddit

They're all gonna laugh at you!
View on Reddit #10386332

DenverBowie@reddit

SAY IT, WOMAN!!
View on Reddit #10394707

Raaazzle@reddit

No wire hangers, ever!
View on Reddit #10390502

secret_fashmonger@reddit

I would have gotten far away from her sooner.
View on Reddit #10388899

cremains_of_the_day@reddit

Oof.
View on Reddit #10387712

Normal-Philosopher-8@reddit

I would have gone low contact so much sooner. We love each other, but we aren’t healthy for each other.
View on Reddit #10387592

ThatSalDude@reddit

try to get an earlier diagnosis for my ASD
View on Reddit #10394679

wishinghearts40@reddit

Screwed around during post secondary and now working a stupid warehouse job .
View on Reddit #10394519

saintdudegaming@reddit

Different career path. Something that would have paid better and was also less people-y.
View on Reddit #10394432

islandbeef@reddit

Buy lots of Amazon, Intel, Netflix, Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, Twitter, Facebook stocks.
View on Reddit #10394141

The_Mammoth_Hunter@reddit

Be born somewhere else, to different people. With a different brain, this one sucks.
View on Reddit #10394118

lalalaladididi@reddit

There's No such thing as hindsight. There's no point playing the hindsight game as it rarely turns out well All we can do is learn from the past.
View on Reddit #10393956

LakehavenAlpha@reddit

Knowing what I know now, I would go into the military, retire at 40, and try desperately to live the rest of my life in solitude. This would change literally everything about my life, and my life is not really one I want to live over again. There's too much noise and too many people making demands on my time that I would rather not agree to. I truly enjoy being alive, but I'd rather be alone.
View on Reddit #10393833

Weekly-Watercress915@reddit

Oh god, yes. Get counselling and don’t do the things I did. I was so desperate and lonely, I allowed myself to be used & thrown away
View on Reddit #10393803

Jefferybeene@reddit

Ignore my band instructor and learn the drums. College roommate who is a musician said I have talent and could’ve been a drummer. All those years of just being a music appreciator could’ve been different
View on Reddit #10383930

t-dogNOLA@reddit

You still can. Just do it. Doesn’t matter how old you are.
View on Reddit #10393449

StarDewbie@reddit

Maybe NOT date my ex again after that first breakup. Wasted time with a loser. Other than that, I'm good with everything, because I'm in the perfect place now.
View on Reddit #10393425

diamond@reddit

No credit cards in my 20s. I simply could not be trusted with that kind of responsibility.
View on Reddit #10393367

Tx_Atheist@reddit

Christ onna bike... I have a list 🤣
View on Reddit #10393345

Loan_Bitter@reddit

Have more adventures
View on Reddit #10393138

EWH733@reddit

Make Scott a one night stand! Ooof!
View on Reddit #10393084

dragonbliss@reddit

Tried more things. I used to help put on concerts with well-known bands at my university and had a blast unloading the truck and helping set things up. I should have tried to be a roadie for a bit after college instead of going straight to 9 - 5.
View on Reddit #10393058

BexFoxy@reddit

Everything and nothing.
View on Reddit #10392973

jawshoeaw@reddit

a million little things as they say. but you never know tinkering with the past.
View on Reddit #10392886

mossryder@reddit

i would have got me that harley davidson...
View on Reddit #10392715

Mantly@reddit

I could have cared less.
View on Reddit #10392660

internalobservations@reddit

I would have started investing in index funds WAY earlier.
View on Reddit #10392624

splotch210@reddit

I would start therapy decades sooner. I would not start smoking. I would spend more time fixing my relationship with my mom. I would be a better mother. I would focus more on school. I would respect my body more. I would keep my business to myself.
View on Reddit #10392566

shaygurl22@reddit

Finish school, never smoke, get the braces when I was younger.
View on Reddit #10392490

baconcheeseburgarian@reddit

I’d tell Kurt that Courtney was no good. I’d have gone to more beastie boys shows. I’d have bought Apple stock instead of that first iPhone. I’d have bought bitcoin instead of weed and cigarettes. I’d have bought a house in high school.
View on Reddit #10392434

grrgrrtigergrr@reddit

Probably never play football. I was a RB and took way too many head shots. My knees started wearing out in college and I have a shoulder that was set wrong in high school that (thankfully, looking back) ended my career at that level.
View on Reddit #10392364

MrPanchole@reddit

Jesus, where do I friggin' start?
View on Reddit #10392259

FabAmy@reddit

Should never have gotten married at 21. Should never have had alcohol. Should never have smoked cigarettes.
View on Reddit #10392061

mentalscrew@reddit

**Do not talk that woman.** My life would have been infinitely better not knowing she even existed. She was by far, with the exception of my mother, the single most destructive force I ever crossed paths in my life. I allowed her to literally destroy my life. Have often wondered through the years of how much better my life would have been otherwise. I was driven, focused, and incredibly optimistic about my direction until she showed up.
View on Reddit #10391918

wretchedhal0@reddit

Give even less of a fuck.
View on Reddit #10391906

FrancoisTruser@reddit

Fuck my art degree. Pure waste of time.
View on Reddit #10391899

SamC54303@reddit

Wouldn’t have married or went to college. Probably would have went to Technical College though. Something where I don’t sit in a cube all day. I would have been closer with family and unrelenting with my passions (Music and cars).
View on Reddit #10391845

StephB567@reddit

Listened to my doctor to get pregnant because it was going to be difficult. I waited and I was too late.
View on Reddit #10391793

madhatter3180@reddit

Paid more attention to the time I had with my late mother.
View on Reddit #10391771

Default_Sock_Issue@reddit

Studied harder, party harder, keep in touch with more people.
View on Reddit #10391705

kristenevol@reddit

I would’ve married the boring guy from college.
View on Reddit #10391622

rcook55@reddit

Honestly not much, I really like where I am in life. Now if this were some 'you keep your knowledge and go back' scenario well, I would have invested the money I made from selling my majority ownership in an oil well into Apple. It's a long story, it was a thing my step-dad did for me, basically privately traded shares that he would buy in my name. I bought a car, Toyota Corrola SR5 instead. Had I done this I'd be a whole hell of a lot closer to retirement right now.
View on Reddit #10391563

myrdraal2001@reddit

Win the lottery.
View on Reddit #10391507

Vivagabex@reddit

Never reach the egg. My siblings would handle this better. I'm consevincevd ...err convinced I mean.
View on Reddit #10391485

Nonsenseinabag@reddit

Started transitioning earlier, given less fucks about what useless people thought about me.
View on Reddit #10391141

meatwad420@reddit

Not drink
View on Reddit #10391122

dallyan@reddit

I wouldn’t have married him.
View on Reddit #10391110

schwarzekatze999@reddit

I have some regrets around college and career choices, but if I would have changed anything, my kids might not exist, at least not the same kids I have now. You see, my husband had cancer and became infertile. I had to get pregnant via IVF with sperm he had saved. My job at the time had health insurance which covered it. No place my husband or I have worked before or since has covered it quite so extensively. If I had made better college choices, I wouldn't have worked there, but I don't know if I would have worked somewhere with better insurance, or been self-employed and not even had insurance back then, before Obamacare. I hated working there, but I might never have been able to afford to have my kids if I didn't. IVF also makes one acutely aware of just how easy it is to have a different kid - like if I had had the surgery on a different day, I would maybe have had different eggs implanted, and they would still be my children, but they wouldn't be \*those\* children. So the only regret I have that wouldn't butterfly-effect them out of existence is allowing myself to get quite as overweight as I am now. I do wish I had exercised more and eaten less. It's a lot harder to lose weight when you're older and fatter and everything makes you exhausted.
View on Reddit #10391081

4158264146@reddit

Everything. I would do everything differently. Living with my mom I had absolutly zero parental guidance so I guess I would start by living with my dad.
View on Reddit #10391069

chlorculo@reddit

Buy a shit-ton of Bitcoin in 2009.
View on Reddit #10391042

mrpickleby@reddit

Probably should have just sold my soul and gone into investment banking. It's all kind of meaningless anyway. But I would definitely do it all over again. And again after that. And again until all sentient beings attain enlightenment.
View on Reddit #10390892

TallStarsMuse@reddit

I would have chosen my career path more deliberately.
View on Reddit #10390859

BarnacleBayler@reddit

Saved for retirement
View on Reddit #10390841

TBeIRIE@reddit

Skip all the wasted alcohol induced expensive donations made to various watering holes,liquor stores & the government. Replenish all the wasted energy, time, & unnecessary toxic stress self inflicted upon myself & above all the else upon the ones I love ….hell even the ones I don’t love. Basically skip the cloudy becoming an alcoholic faze & the deep dark being an alcoholic faze.
View on Reddit #10390739

Quick-Cattle-7720@reddit

I would look after my teeth Not have children Finish university Keep out of debt Stop joking about having ADHD and get tested. I was late diagnosed and it has been a game changer for me being medicated. I dropped out of uni, didn't take care of myself properly and struggled as a parent. Maybe things would have been different if I had the knowledge then that I have now. I would definitely try to be a better parent if that's the only thing I could change.
View on Reddit #10390636

TheVonSolo@reddit

Not go to college. Not get married.
View on Reddit #10390575

Only-One-Time@reddit

I'd be kinder to the people who loved me. I wouldn't be so insecure and accept that people liked me.
View on Reddit #10382302

Raaazzle@reddit

This is a good one. I'll also add: spend less time trying to get people to like me or even worrying about it.
View on Reddit #10390396

ThoughtGeneral@reddit

Become a nun like I wanted to be when I was little through my teen years.
View on Reddit #10390292

thedarkforest_theory@reddit

I would not have waited as long to get my shit together. I would have also had my kids earlier.
View on Reddit #10390256

Raaazzle@reddit

Should have gone to college first instead of the military, but I needed to get out of the neighborhood.
View on Reddit #10390239

Zaltara_the_Red@reddit

I'd do everything differently. I devoted my 20s and 30s to a professional hobby, and I wish I hadn't. Wish I would have never touched drugs, smoked cigarettes, drank so much, etc. So many regrets.
View on Reddit #10390114

Kilted-Brewer@reddit

I would not give two licks about what family, friends, or society thinks… I’d have said fuck it and spent my days either fly fishing or snowboarding when it was to cold to fish. I’ve yet to come across a head stone saying “Here lies ________. He died wishing he fished less.”
View on Reddit #10389934

bmadccp12@reddit

Invest in Apple and Google stocks.
View on Reddit #10389918

kimdawn23@reddit

Gone back to school earlier, not acquired student loan debt, not drink so much / sleep around so much, and travel the world
View on Reddit #10389764

fiushf@reddit

Life?
View on Reddit #10389757

ExpensiveSyrup@reddit

I would have done better in high school, gotten into a good college and picked a career path that was stable and well paying. And I would have stopped investing all my energy into partying and trying to have (all unhealthy) relationships. Now I have a mediocre job and am essentially paycheck to paycheck and will have to work till I am in my 70s.
View on Reddit #10389711

LawrenceTalbot69@reddit

*Lawrence from Office Space* “Two Chicks at the same time…”
View on Reddit #10389647

Special-Hyena1132@reddit

Stay away from booze.
View on Reddit #10389584

Romaine2k@reddit

If I could I'd skip the whole thing entirely.
View on Reddit #10389464

JoeSicko@reddit

Everything, just to see how it turns out the 2nd time.
View on Reddit #10389462

Ksan_of_Tongass@reddit

Go to college for something I actually wanted to do. My passions are cooking and astrophysics. I work in healthcare for 25 years and could not care less about my work. It's a means to pay the bills.
View on Reddit #10389429

ParsleyMostly@reddit

Never date.
View on Reddit #10389414

VRTravis@reddit

If it's and but's were sugar and nuts... Can't go back, so I regret nothing, even the shitty things and bad marriage has made me who I am today and I like me!
View on Reddit #10389348

Evil_Weevil_Knievel@reddit

Nothing. Not a god damn thing. Do I have regrets? Oh fuck yes. But I wouldn’t want to jeopardize who I am today. I feel like Rutger Hauer giving his monologue in Blade Runner. The things I’ve seen.
View on Reddit #10389272

random_redditor___@reddit

A LOT. All these old timers (older than us) that always say "I wouldn't change a thing" are delusional.
View on Reddit #10389265

14MTH30n3@reddit

It's an interesting one. I married early, and as I got older I realized that I rushed into it with not quite the right person. Now, 20+ years later, we love each other and are very comfortable, but I am not happy mentally and emotionally, bordering depression. I have hard time figuring out if its my life partner, something else, or maybe some phase I am going through. So it's hard for me to determine if I made a wrong choice and should redo it.
View on Reddit #10389237

FranqiT@reddit

Majored in anything other than print journalism 😂. Taken the broadcast journalism add-on diploma that was offered, which I’m sure would have taken me on a total diff career trajectory. Be more aware of compound interest and started saving much earlier. Stuck with learning languages, bc it turns out, I’m not bad at it.
View on Reddit #10389224

fuegodiegOH@reddit

I’d have come out sooner, moved away from home sooner, stopped smoking sooner, & followed my heart into a career I was passionate about.
View on Reddit #10389141

dioramic_life@reddit

Grandpa Edwin offers this sagely advice: “Listen to me, I got no reason to lie to you, don't make the same mistakes I made when I was young. Fuck a lotta women kid, not just one woman, a lotta women.”
View on Reddit #10388996

grahsam@reddit

Hard to say. My life was shit for a long time, but I am really happy where I am today. If I had done things differently then, I probably wouldn't be where I am now. Should I have paid closer attention to school? Should my parents have tried harder to figure out my major malfunction? Should I have given up on music as a career sooner, spent less time partying, and more time thinking about a future? Should I have been less dense and realized those girls were hitting on me? Should I have had the balls to tell those girls and other that I liked them? Yes to all of that. But then I wouldn't be me. Scars and all, I am who I am because of it. It's taken me so long to be comfortable with where I am now, that I don't know what would have changed. Maybe I'd be more careful with my back?
View on Reddit #10388950

Cleverwabbit5@reddit

Got my Mom away from my Dad earlier. Warned my Mom about strokes she had a massive one at 51. I would have started yoga young and kept at it. Had more confidence and self esteem and been kind to my body instead of hating myself inside and out. Would have made a huge difference in my life. Still not there. Yeah I wish I had asked for stocks in apple etc or bought them young. Travelled more, made better connections. Took legal action against a company that fired me for discrimination. Got my degree in psychology not film, still would work in film but make better choices. Lastly my lost loves would have gotten in the cab with this guy on NYE who I loved but didn’t because of friends, always wondered what would have happened and locked my door not to be interrupted when my best guy friend who I was totally in love with was about to finally kiss me and we got interrupted and he met someone the next week he married. Still single my only close calls in my life who would know.
View on Reddit #10388929

Hungry-Industry-9817@reddit

I would not have married my ex
View on Reddit #10388885

kathatter75@reddit

Not marry my ex. He’s not a bad person…I was too emotionally young to get married and spent too many years not being myself.
View on Reddit #10388851

LBQ-7044@reddit

I would have stopped trying to win the love and attention of my mother by trying to please her by doing what I thought she wanted me to do. It was a losing proposition as she was always going to belittle and neglect me; I should have just realized it and followed my bliss from day 1 —- Moved abroad and followed a career of my choosing.
View on Reddit #10388772

TheSpatulaOfLove@reddit

Buy the stock my friend insisted I do, but couldn’t afford at the time.
View on Reddit #10384816

RevereTheAughra@reddit

Buy the house we were looking at in California in the mid 1990s for a whopping... $200,000. Lol. It would have set us up for life but we were like, WHO CAN AFFORD $200K FOR A HOUSE. omfg.
View on Reddit #10388764

LeighofMar@reddit

Not get married and have a kid so young. Thought I knew everything of course.
View on Reddit #10388743

dioramic_life@reddit

Enchantment Under the Sea, every time.
View on Reddit #10388727

Powerful-Bug3769@reddit

I’d have invested at a lot younger age in tech.
View on Reddit #10388589

RaeAhNa@reddit

Never get married.
View on Reddit #10388580

AshDenver@reddit

I wouldn’t do a damn thing differently.
View on Reddit #10388486

Brs76@reddit

Vocational school my junior/senior years
View on Reddit #10388447

Greg13Nomad@reddit

I wouldn't change a thing. My childhood and teen years were great.
View on Reddit #10388412

cindy6507@reddit

Never sold AAPL because brokers said I should diversify
View on Reddit #10388402

Nojopar@reddit

Once again, I have to point out the Right Reverend of the 80's Pop Cannon Mr. Eddie Money has already [expertly answered](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0JqC2UDpoE) this :)
View on Reddit #10388398

qpv@reddit

Wouldn't smoke, go to school, save money and bought real estate. So basically I'd do absolutely everything differently.
View on Reddit #10388392

IForgotThePassIUsed@reddit

Invest money earlier, buy a house instead of buying a condo, and stop getting dragged into my parents poor lifestyle decisions. They're YOUR fucking parents, you shouldn't have to teach one of them to not be an alcoholic and the other one not to chase abusive men.
View on Reddit #10388372

Shawmattack01@reddit

The question is--would I do it all over again at all?
View on Reddit #10388295

FlamingWhisk@reddit

I would have gone and worked corporate instead of trying to save the world
View on Reddit #10387433

Broad-Key7342@reddit

Me too!
View on Reddit #10388162

BonsaiBirder@reddit

Striaght through school to PHD.
View on Reddit #10388119

LeLaBoBo@reddit

would have taken things a bit more seriously and would of invested more to my future older self. I'm good now, but alot of painful unnecessary lessons. ie, profession, money handling, relationships
View on Reddit #10388062

WingZombie@reddit

I would ask her out sooner and not taken so much for granted. I would decide not to be fat at a younger age. I would spend less money on stuff and more money on experiences. I would move to a cabin in the woods like I dreamed of as a kid
View on Reddit #10387998

bmyst70@reddit

Ask out some of the women I had crushes on in HS. I found out, much, much later that quite a few probably would have gone out with me. But I had (still have) a very low threshold for tolerating rejection. So I assumed I'd be rejected and didn't bother.
View on Reddit #10387976

autogeriatric@reddit

If I believed in regrets, I would spend most of my time in the depths of depression. It’s not about how you fall, it’s about how you recover.
View on Reddit #10387900

Ang156@reddit

I would have gone to college. Travel more
View on Reddit #10387796

gnamyl@reddit

Nothing. I mean I carry regrets like most of us but I wouldn’t change things. Who I am is the sun of all my experiences, bad and good and for every thing I might try to change I could lose good things that ended up coming my way. Regrets: I should not have gotten back together with my first wife after our initial breakup. That was a fuckup on my part. It was just a long slow decline to divorce after that. I wish I’d talked to Charles and told him my real thoughts instead of just ghosting him (it was before ghosting was a term mind you). When he died suddenly I experienced real and immediate regret that I’d not cleared the air. We had been very close friends and I owed him better than I gave him. Those are probably my two biggest regrets or the ones I can think of now. Still.. life is what we make of it, good and bad. If I’d divorced my first wife back then (in the 90’s) I might not have met my current wife (seems very likely).
View on Reddit #10387762

el_tophero@reddit

Having kids earlier in life is probably the big one - more time with them and grandkids as a younger person. Other than that, I wish I'd bought AAPL in '96
View on Reddit #10387761

emmiblakk@reddit

I wouldn't have gotten married three times. After the first one, I should have just stayed single forever.
View on Reddit #10387628

nderflow@reddit

Do the degree I really wanted. Priotitize myself instead of the doomed relationship.
View on Reddit #10387607

Harruq_Tun@reddit

The mere thought of having to "do it all over again" could have me rushing to get in front of a high speed train to avoid ever doing that.
View on Reddit #10387568

jhope71@reddit

(1) Gone away to college instead of staying home and going to the local branch and (2) gotten better healthcare before gaining over 100+ lbs from hormonal issues. It destroyed my metabolism, my joints and my self-esteem and even though I lost the weight the damage remained.
View on Reddit #10387564

Thisizamazing@reddit

Not a damn thing. All the mistakes I made lead me to where I am today. And I am fully in love with this life.
View on Reddit #10387461

moderngamer@reddit

I would have made a better effort to buy a house right out of high school before the prices went insane. When I got out of school the average large house was about 150k.
View on Reddit #10387435

FletchGordon@reddit

I wouldn't change much, I like where I'm at in life at the moment. I'd probably try to be less of an elitist when it came to music back in the day. So many awesome bands didn't get my money cuz of my stupid opinion lol
View on Reddit #10387396

khatnip@reddit

Raise my son with more responsibility. I overcompensated for the lack of love I felt I needed and didn’t get, by doing too much for him. I still have time to change but I wish I’d done it differently.
View on Reddit #10387299

seno76@reddit

Taking college more seriously and training for a stable, long-term career.
View on Reddit #10387282

the_1_that_knocks@reddit

Never get married
View on Reddit #10387275

Automatic-Emotion266@reddit

Go to a trade school or community college
View on Reddit #10387070

EmperorXerro@reddit

Lord, all of it. Put some work into school instead of just falling out of bed and getting a B. Talk to the Olympic ice skaters before they headed home to Chicago. Tell my mom how much I love and appreciate her. Tell my brother to get his shit together. Soak in the time I spend with my friends because it’s not forever. Even though a ran everywhere, run even faster while I can still run. Tell my dogs I love them a thousand times.
View on Reddit #10387048

AdOk7488@reddit

Given less fucks and not to forget corporate greed. Look at where we are today.
View on Reddit #10387004

madfoot@reddit

[EVERYTHING.](https://tenor.com/view/everything-annie-edison-community-allison-brie-gif-5440286)
View on Reddit #10386979

Aphreal42@reddit

I would have traveled when I was younger and would have chosen a different college and path.
View on Reddit #10386941

Alewort@reddit

I would have taken the free ride scholarship at my hometown university instead of thinking that I was getting a better education at the expensive one two states away.
View on Reddit #10386893

Apprehensive-Donkey7@reddit

Invest in Google, start my career at 25 instead of 37, take on zero school debt
View on Reddit #10386797

RedditModsKMKB@reddit

Falling in love and loosing my viginity.
View on Reddit #10386767

madfoot@reddit

<div class="tenor-gif-embed" data-postid="5440286" data-share-method="host" data-aspect-ratio="1.79091" data-width="100%"><a href="https://tenor.com/view/everything-annie-edison-community-allison-brie-gif-5440286">Everything! - Everything GIF</a>from <a href="https://tenor.com/search/everything-gifs">Everything GIFs</a></div> <script type="text/javascript" async src="https://tenor.com/embed.js"></script>
View on Reddit #10386598

tags666@reddit

I would have told someone when my second grade teacher choked me and dragged me down to the principals office by my clip on Catholic school tie. Might have changed the course of a lot of shit that happened after
View on Reddit #10386597

New-Object-8410@reddit

Not be so poor.
View on Reddit #10386545

Ill_Sport8283@reddit

Not worry about getting a boyfriend.
View on Reddit #10386439

ihatepickingnames_@reddit

Not screw up my finances and not go back to school late in life to fall into student loan debt.
View on Reddit #10382549

aggressive_seal@reddit

I feel this
View on Reddit #10386333

YamTop2433@reddit

I would give even less of a shit.
View on Reddit #10386289

TexansAreTacky@reddit

Pretty much everything
View on Reddit #10386286

throwaway_boulder@reddit

Get sober, stay sober.
View on Reddit #10386190

aggressive_seal@reddit

I dropped out of high school, had a kid when I was 18, spent about 2 years in prison, pursued a career in food service (food serviceis a rough way to make not great money), went to college for food service (still paying on student loans) and had a bankruptcy. So lots of things to choose from. But, the main thing I would change? I never would have smoked fucking cigarettes. Stupidest thing I ever did was start smoking. Finally quit about 6 years ago. Fuck cigarettes. That and I would have flossed more.
View on Reddit #10386163

wetclogs@reddit

I wouldn’t have swam away when that girl came up to me at the lake.
View on Reddit #10386094

fantasyphish420@reddit

Don't do that oxy.
View on Reddit #10385964

Bobwiththebigone@reddit

Stay single
View on Reddit #10385915

MNGirlinKY@reddit

Start paying my student loans off early vs deferred payments
View on Reddit #10385845

Fartina69@reddit

I'd get a haircut and get a real job.
View on Reddit #10385798

Drkofimon@reddit

Trust anyone.
View on Reddit #10385788

jimjackcoke@reddit

I regret that when I was 17 a hot 17 year old girl who I worked with stopped by the restaurant we worked at together and said that her parents were on vacation and she walked in the door of her house and had a weird feeling. Like a dumbass I called the police non emergency number and had them meet her at her house to make sure no one broke in. Instead of saying.. boss something came up I have to go! I mean I was a nerd so I'm sure nothing would have happened but my regret is not knowing if she actually needed help or if she actually wanted ME to 'help'.
View on Reddit #10384651

sissybicucktx@reddit

Nowadays, you risk the girl getting shot calling the cops-- esp if she's not white. Any time you call the cops, you have to do the risk assessment, because cops' only way to solve problems is with their guns, so every problem looks to them exactly like a target. As it was back in the day, the cop probably just raped her in her home and went about his business.
View on Reddit #10385700

Ohshitz-@reddit

Go away to college, different career, not be involved with losers
View on Reddit #10385656

MF049@reddit

Nothing.
View on Reddit #10385620

Orbit86@reddit

Go in the Military and serve my country
View on Reddit #10385584

RightSideBlind@reddit

I think I would've stayed at my job in Oregon, instead of moving all over the US. The job was good, and I would've saved a lot more money in the long run. Plus, I absolutely loved living there.
View on Reddit #10385109

kgleas01@reddit

No cocaine
View on Reddit #10385100

Biishep1230@reddit

No started smoking. I quit in 2015 and could not be happier. Wish I had never started. So bad for me and those around me and so expensive.
View on Reddit #10385054

bigredthesnorer@reddit

I wish that I had a closer relationship with my dad before he died when I was 21. He was a good guy, very quiet and introverted, and I failed to appreciate him during HS and college years. I also wish that I had sold my tech job's stock options before the dot com bubble burst. I probably would not be working today if I had. Or at least be financially comfortable.
View on Reddit #10384942

raf_boy@reddit

There's a handful of people that I regret having been insensitive to. Otherwise, nothing else. &#x200B; *…maybe not stored my comic books in a garage with a rotten door that fell of…*
View on Reddit #10384889

double-you-dot@reddit

Virtually nothing. I'm pretty content with how things have played out for me.
View on Reddit #10384427

lazertittiesrrad@reddit

Being born was a bad idea
View on Reddit #10384327

1kreasons2leave@reddit

One of two things. Either actually gave a shit about school (not that I'm complaining too much about my current situation, but it shouldn't had taken me this long.) Or not move across country and leave a woman I truly cared for.
View on Reddit #10384310

Grown_Azzz_Kid@reddit

Got good grades in high school and went straight to college. Everything worked out, eventually, but jesus there certainly had to be an easier way to get here.
View on Reddit #10384307

ddhmax5150@reddit

Do drugs. I don’t think Nancy was right. Let me rephrase it. Try drugs.
View on Reddit #10384115

crimsonmegatron@reddit

I was lucky enough to travel a lot pre-social media. I would have taken more photos (because I was young enough to think I'd remember it all) and soaked in the experience more without a billion people around trying to get the perfect tiktok.
View on Reddit #10383998

hellospheredo@reddit

Kept my plans to see Katie instead of canceling so that my now wife could visit me for the first time. It was a big pivotal point: two women, same weekend, one choice on who to see. This was 20+ years ago and I’m in a dead marriage so I’ve been retracing everything. That weekend is when things could’ve gone a very different direction.
View on Reddit #10383993

Craig1974@reddit

Be a better Christian than I was in the past.
View on Reddit #10383683

BCCommieTrash@reddit

I'd have gone to the Balearic Islands in the early 90s and never left. Work as a sound and lights guy for the EDM clubs.
View on Reddit #10383480

3chordguitar@reddit

I would’ve gone to law school when I was accepted. I thought I had it made at my job and didn’t want to disrupt it. Was I fucking wrong??!! Oh well, it all worked out but it could’ve been much easier than it was.
View on Reddit #10383391

BerryLanky@reddit

Everything good in my life has happened because of dumb luck. And overall it’s been a great life. Any slight variation would probably put me in a worse place. Leave it as is. Even finding out my neighbors through school has a huge crush on my and not finding out until after I married worked out for me. Had we dated she would have gotten pregnant by me in high school instead of the guy she dated which would have detailed my life. Guess if I could change one thing I’d but the first appearance of Spider Man back in the 80’s before it became a seven figure book
View on Reddit #10383198

Ambitious_Sea_6277@reddit

just everything. i made so many shitty decisions in my life. i need to reboot from birth... its a mess right now... and it will take no "good end" should i ever retire someday, i will be poor, lonley, in bad health etc... the lord of hell awaits me with open arms...
View on Reddit #10383154

satans_toast@reddit

When I was in my 20’s, I wanted to go into electrical engineering. I was convinced to get an IT degree instead. Lately, I’ve been regretting the choice. I made good money all my life, but it’s just not interesting work. I should have stayed in school, or taken more night classes. It’s my big regret.
View on Reddit #10382712

Sassberto@reddit

I would have pursued a different career.
View on Reddit #10382536

Witch_of_November@reddit

I would not have gone to university and I would have been nicer to my family, except for my brothers since they are assholes.
View on Reddit #10382501

Ok-Dragonfruit-715@reddit

Gone to college.
View on Reddit #10382370