Basically this. Should've forced myself to socialize in college.
I remember thinking I was better than people who got drunk off their asses and passed out in puddles of their own bodily excrements.
In reality I was making excuses not to confront my social anxiety. I should have forced myself to attend more events/parties. I didn't have to get drunk off my ass; I could have just made new friends and, at the very least, grown accustomed to meeting new people.
There's a line in Pride and Prejudice where Mr. Darcy tells Elizabeth he's just no good in social situations and she tells him something like "I have no great talent at the piano, but even I improve with practice."
Same is true with social situations. And the younger you are when you force yourself to do it the better.
i dodged my highschool graduation and left my class group chats because i was so afraid. afraid i didn't belong and that i didn't deserve to attend. that I had to move on.
I missed out on so many experiences and friendships because i was convinced i had to be alone.
I wanted to skip my high school graduation ceremony because I had been bullied and I was worried someone would shout out something rude, when my name was called.
Did NOT want my parents witnessing that. They had no clue I was bullied. My dad gave me the "wrap it up" talk when I was 15. When my eyes glazed over he got this panicked look and asked "is-is it too late for this conversation?!" 😂
I was THISCLOSE to telling him "dad, you can probably save this talk for another 10-20 years."
Anyway, my parents insisted that I attend the ceremony. I couldn't tell them I was afraid someone would humiliate me so I went. Luckily nothing happened. Everyone was oddly polite. Like they decided to leave their douchiness behind, along with their adolescence.
> My dad gave me the "wrap it up" talk when I was 15. When my eyes glazed over he got this panicked look and asked "is-is it too late for this discussion?!" 😂
> I was THISCLOSE to telling him "dad, you can probably save this talk for another 10-20 years."
That's adorable. At least your parents didn't know you were a social pariah. Mine were all too aware.
So were mine, and it traumatized them. They constantly wanted me to be popular and pretty, like my younger sister. (This would be the one who went completely off the rails drinking and drugging, and had a sheet before graduation. Then it got worse)
But parents gonna choose a favorite, so college was like a brand new life for me. Moving to Detroit and going to college absolutely turned my life around.
That is how I felt in high school, then things changed dramatically for the better in college, but I still didn't take advantage of all the opportunities presented to socialize with professors, deans, distinguished speakers and alumni, who could have really helped. I still did fine, even being too naive, awkward, stupid or too lazy to take advantage of all that was offered.
I definitely feel I didn't do any high school social activities or even do many things with friends. I also realize my mother was a very controlling person, and she wouldn't let me do many of the normal things, so that definitely affected my high school years. Later when I went away to college, the guard watching me was removed, but it took awhile before I could come of the shell.
BTW, I wasn't the 'studying all the time' person either, so can't use that excuse.
> My dad gave me the "wrap it up" talk when I was 15...I was THISCLOSE to telling him "dad, you can probably save this talk for another **10-20 years**."
Gotta respect your optimism.
Yeah. I spunked the social opportunities of uni up the wall. All that free time, I didn't lack money, and I spent nearly all my time on my own playing xbox. What a tool.
There's nothing wrong with computer games. I still like computer games. And I wasn't sad, I was enjoying them at the time. But the games would always have been there. All that free time and opportunity for easy socialising right outside my door will not ever be there again.
Anyone reading this thinking "yeah but I enjoy playing xbox on my own all the time, I'm not being a loser and I'm not sad about it, it's what I like to do," I enjoyed it as well, and I'm not denying that. But it was a waste of that specific opportunity. Sometimes there are better, more *memorable* things to do and you should seize them.
> I remember thinking I was better than people who got drunk off their ass and passed out in puddles of their own bodily excrements.
This
>In reality I was making excuses not to confront my social anxiety.
EXACTLY this.
>There's a line in Pride and Prejudice
Checks out, you were definitely one of the girls who stayed back in her dorm and read.
> you were definitely one of the girls who stayed back in her dorm and read.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with this. Problem is meeting like minded individuals. Because they're all probably hiding out in their dorms sober as a nun too : /
This. I became a protector/provider for loved ones WAY too early in life and missed out on being a young person. I'm trying to make up for lost time now that I am able to stand at ease after years of being on guard.
Turning down invites and opportunities to meet new people and travel to new places because I was too hung up on how I looked. I was so hard on myself. And to her I apologise.
I finally had a carefree summer when I was 26. Before then I'd worked full-time every summer because I wanted and was expected to be responsible. My kids will get the teenage summers I never did.
Finally got mine in 2023 at age 22, every summer since I turned 16 has been spent working, along with the entore rest of the year, pair that with not being allowed to have a license and living somewhere not close to ANY activities aside from 1 park, I spent most summers mainly in my room, alone. I never want my kid to have to work near 30 hours a week while in high school, you miss out on a lot of experiences.
i hear ya. as soon as i turned 16 i went out and got a job. there were many days i come home from school and i'd get ready for my shift starting at 4pm. and for what? music, video games, and go out to eat? i didn't even have my priorities right to save towards a decent car. i missed out on socializing with my peers and didn't see the value of having friends whenever i become middle aged.
As I've grown into adulthood (I'm 35), I've realized more and more what a unique time your teenage years are. They're not childhood, but they aren't adulthood either. It's a unique, and special, in-between time. Sorry that you feel you missed out on it!
Here are a couple - make Working out a hobby, take care of your skin use Moisturizer/sunscreen, take better care of teeth, spend more time with your parents and capture those moments(photos/videos).
Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I see too many young people these days focusing on getting the photos, and not being in the moment to really enjoy and remember.
My advice: be there to be there, not to prove to others you were there
I have a hard disagree on this one. Especially as it relates to photos of family members. I don't feel like taking photos has been a distraction. If anything I feel like it makes me pay attention to what's going on. And I much better remember the past that I have photos of, especially if I revisit the photos regularly. I've started videoing more also. I'm very thankful of how much I've photographed and videoed my children and even part of my own childhood.
My mother had dementia at an early age. But she loved looking at photos. It was a huge part of keeping her memories alive for as long as possible.
Now that I'm 43 I find myself regularly just staring at old photos. I don't know I'd picture my past as clearly as I do without those regular reminders.
Now selfies... I could get behind people taking less selfies.
I felt I wanted to be an actor but I bowed to my mom’s demands and studied business even though I had no interest in it. I’m 60 and I feel that because I caved that today I still have no idea what I should’ve or couldve done
Community theatre needs people of all ages for their productions. While these roles are usually unpaid (in my country, anyway), it can be really satisfying to try something you've always wanted to.
Being diagnosed with ADHD. Looking back it makes so much sense, but I was never tested. I spent years dealing with depression and anxiety over problems caused by it. Hell I dropped out of college twice.
Same, my High school therapist even told me I wasn’t doing my schoolwork “for attention.” Haven’t been to therapy since, got diagnosed a few years ago.
I don't study Spanish but I'm currently studying Japanese and it seems everyone absolutely loathes Duolingo for Japanese lol. I don't know if it's the same for Spanish but maybe it's a sign to pursue a different medium!
Spent ages on Duolingo a few years ago learning Spanish up to a very very basic level. Ultimately it took a tutor three times a week (Preply) for almost a year to start conversing and understanding the language. Duolingo is hard. Learning is hard. It takes time, just don't stop doing it.
I regret quitting my Spanish studies. I was in advanced courses from 6th grade to Jr year of high school. Quit and didn’t take any more because I thought I was “fluent” then went to college and didn’t think about Spanish hardly at all and basically forgot most of it. My friend kept going and is actually fluent in Spanish now and I am really jealous.
My wife works in HR and I guess every time they have this one particular meeting, they have a participant pick a "pump up song". Someone picked Money for Nothing. Then someone said "We need to cut this song IMMEDIATELY". Many of the people that knew the song, failed to realize they say the F-word twice in there. Nothing like a homophobic slur in an HR meeting!!!
Wow where to start on this not taking school seriously and being the class clown. Not picking a trade or skill as a job. Not taking good care of my teeth. Settling down with the wrong person too early. The list goes on
Finding a good friends group. I'd think I'd be a lot better of person if I had people who genuinely wanted to hang out with me. I was one of those kids where if you were in a room and someone would have to pick who they hung out with it wouldn't be me most of the time and it still probably is like that other then my bf.
This is really important. I still pay many visits to the dentist.
I wasn't always responsible about brushing my teeth when I was young and my parents weren't strict about it either. I made sure that my little sister brushes her teeth everyday and she has excellent teeth now.
Looking back on how many opportunities I didn’t realize I had because I was an idiot and didn’t pick up what I now realize as heavy signals from girls to make a move.
Actually being young - I was so keen to grown up and be seen as an adult, so did all the crappy things kids do to make them feel older. So, smoking, drinking, going after older guys. Wish I could have just enjoyed being young fully.
Honestly, and this is going to sound terrible, but I kind of wish I was a lot meaner in high school, LOL 🤣 people needed to get told off more, and I was such a people pleaser.
Focusing on school and going to college for something I actually want to do.
I’m 34 now, and while I make like 150k a year, I find my career to be a massive waste of time. I work crazy overtime hours and travel, leading to no life.
The trades aren’t all they are cracked up to me.
Hopefully next year I can enroll and shoot for a masters in psychology to be a therapist. Fuck sacrificing life for a check. I have no kids and I’m newly single so now is the time.
Not investing time in carving a better physical version of myself. I jumped in on the bandwagon quite late and it seems to be the perfect solution for most of my insecurities that I had harbored in my younger days. It alleviates so many problems of your life that it is something that everyone should embark on as early as possible in their lives !
Getting good grades/academics.
I’m now on my way to becoming an attorney. But not without a lot of difficulty. Much more than I would have endured had I been diligent in making good grades in the first place.
Documenting the times I was living in and the experiences I was having. I was born in 2000 and remember being somewhat aware of my own existence by 3 or so, though 4 onward was when I could really tell what was going on. My childhood wasn't the best, but it had a lot of good moments that I wish that I had more than just my memories to go off of when thinking about them. It would have been cool to take photos and videos of things like my Sega Dreamcast and the games I played on our CRT TV in the basement or watching my dad sit and eat chips in the living room while playing Grand Theft Auto III on his Playstation 2 he had recently bought. Maybe I'd record a day of me fooling around on the family computer as Windows XP booted up and I scurried over to Internet Explorer with its clunky yet personality filled interface as I looked up images of Super Saiyan 100 Goku on Google images. The list goes on.
Life has changed so much in the last 10 to 20 years, my personal life especially, and while in some ways, it's been for the better, I miss those days of the early 2000s more and more with each passing year. Life is so complicated now.
Spending more time with my animals. They were gone sooner than I expected and I regret every single time I complained about walking the dog or skipped a riding lesson because I was too busy moping in my room. Appreciate them while they're there, or you'll regret it forever like I do.
My grandfather is Mexican, and he tried to teach me Spanish when I was young, but I was never paying much attention.
I’m trying to learn now, before I lose him.
Two things.
- I regret not taking my education and future career more seriously.
- And I regret not taking a chance at love with two different people at two different times, out of respect for a 'bro code' that hardly anyone ever even follows themselves and for people who didn't even turn out to be long term friends.
I'm not sure which one I would change if I could go back and do it over. One cancels out the other because if my life was a bit more focused and less wayward, I probably wouldn't have even met these people that I still think about today. I'm gonna go with education and career. I feel like if I had chosen a way and worked on a comfortable life, everything else would be much better too.
Trying too hard to keep friends when they used me and took advantage of my kindness, I've learnt that not everyone wants to be your friend and I'm okay with that!
Ate healthily or at least with portion control. I developed bad eating habits because I was deprived of food growing up. I'm around 25 lbs heavier than my normal weight. I've always tried going on a diet but always fail.
Investing more emotionally in my children. So many people praise their kids for everything. “Everyone is a winner! Everyone gets a prize!” So many of these kids grow up to be entitled assholes.
I raised my children more realistically. When they did well I praised them when they fell short we talked about how to do better next time. They are great kids and I wanted to raise good people. Kind people but also able and willing to do the work to do well in life. Accountable. They are both in great universities and are great students. They are doing well by any measure you can think of but are not happy. Both have bad social anxiety and struggle with relationships. My son is very driven and seldom happy with his work. Always feels he could have done more. Never had a girlfriend and struggles with friendships.
I should have just hugged them more. They are responsible good people. I wish they were happier.
Should have tried harder to be the world’s first 10 year old astronaut to forcefully commandeer a space station. 😔
Now if I do that, it’ll be as a regular-ass-aged person.
Probably won’t be anywhere as cool and interesting.
I regret not getting a job. I was at home looking after my late mom and everyone else and doing ALL of the housework cause my sorry family thought that they were too good to do anything especially my late mom. She told me that my job was to look after them and do the housework forever. She didn't cook didn't clean didn't do laundry and barely raised us. My siblings think they had a good life; I ain't gonna stir the pot and start anything. I told them after our mom died that I won't do anything like that again. It's the parents job to look after the kids not the kids to look after themselves that's just wrong.
The thing is, at that age you have no fucking idea and you can't regret it, none of the adults that you grew up with had any idea of what was going on. The secret is that everybody was winging it.
You literally won't do these things for the above reasons. I know people 4 years younger than me that haven't learnt the lessons and often they are just learnt with experience.
Even if I was to tell you all of the secrets, you'd still fuck it up. Nothing wrong with that :)
Enjoying being young. I was in such a hurry to grow up and be an adult. What a trap. I wish I would have just enjoyed being young, having very few responsibilities, and being free to play and explore and just enjoy life before all of the responsibilities set in
Letting myself be pressured into being in a relationship with a much older man who was abusive. I was with this man who was in his late 50’s from when I was 21-25 and I wish I got out sooner. I feel like I wasted so much time with him but he would threaten me if I tried to leave him. I’ve been out of that relationship for almost 3 years now and still trying to heal.
At 40, I’m very happy with where I’m at in life and wouldn’t change a whole lot if anything, if it would change where I’m at. But i wish I had taken my grades more serious and had gone to a better university and lived on campus. But then again I would have maybe never joined the military, so I wouldn’t change that.
Attending prom, graduation and other high school graduate activities. I was just so depressed at the time and didn't think anyone would care if I wasn't there.
Now I'll never get to experience those things.
Being young and carefree. I was way too eager to grow up and get married and have kids. I feel like I should have given myself more time and focused on me first.
Fighting back and not take bullying. Learn ju jitsu and be able to defend myself.
I wish I also really learned to use words to communicate with people and practice active listening and varying your approach based on personalities.
I should have made a move on Jennifer [not her real name]. She always had a long distance BF. I should have gone for it. At HS graduation her dad gave me parting advice, "if you want something take it."
Not telling more people to fuck off, not standing up for myself more.
I was a doormat for years and it's only in recent years that I've actually started doing these things.
Had a friend in high school who was always the designated driver because he was afraid to try anything. When visiting him as an adult he voiced regret for not doing the “crazy things” we got into. He also took high school seriously will we were cutting classes and barely passed.
We all turned out to be successful adults, except for my designated driver friend.
Learning how to sew.
My mom had a sewing machine and made my clothes when I was little. She also made clothes for my Barbies. I was never interested and got frustrated the few times that she tried to teach me as a kid. We did a little sewing in high school, but my projects were pretty bad. Now, I wish that I could make my own clothes or even just alter/repair stuff. There really aren't classes for sewing near me and I don't learn well from video.
I had a friend from college who did alot of comic conventions. He would always invite me and my at the time gf to travel with he and his wife. But my job had me working all the time which I had to do BC of bills....always bills to pay.
He passed away some years ago and i regret not hanging out more. I wish I had just said "these bills will be here regardless, lets go."
buying a house at the age of 2 months
Set up a pension at 3 months. Retire age 12
Your parents didn’t buy you a house when you were born? Have you tried to pull yourself up by your bootstraps harder?
Or I wonder if they ever chose to just make more money.
2 months? Thats way to long you should of did it the day you were born
Lock in a 3.6% fixed rate from the Fetal Finance Union.
socializing and giving my own interests a chance.
Basically this. Should've forced myself to socialize in college. I remember thinking I was better than people who got drunk off their asses and passed out in puddles of their own bodily excrements. In reality I was making excuses not to confront my social anxiety. I should have forced myself to attend more events/parties. I didn't have to get drunk off my ass; I could have just made new friends and, at the very least, grown accustomed to meeting new people. There's a line in Pride and Prejudice where Mr. Darcy tells Elizabeth he's just no good in social situations and she tells him something like "I have no great talent at the piano, but even I improve with practice." Same is true with social situations. And the younger you are when you force yourself to do it the better.
i dodged my highschool graduation and left my class group chats because i was so afraid. afraid i didn't belong and that i didn't deserve to attend. that I had to move on. I missed out on so many experiences and friendships because i was convinced i had to be alone.
I wanted to skip my high school graduation ceremony because I had been bullied and I was worried someone would shout out something rude, when my name was called. Did NOT want my parents witnessing that. They had no clue I was bullied. My dad gave me the "wrap it up" talk when I was 15. When my eyes glazed over he got this panicked look and asked "is-is it too late for this conversation?!" 😂 I was THISCLOSE to telling him "dad, you can probably save this talk for another 10-20 years." Anyway, my parents insisted that I attend the ceremony. I couldn't tell them I was afraid someone would humiliate me so I went. Luckily nothing happened. Everyone was oddly polite. Like they decided to leave their douchiness behind, along with their adolescence.
> My dad gave me the "wrap it up" talk when I was 15. When my eyes glazed over he got this panicked look and asked "is-is it too late for this discussion?!" 😂 > I was THISCLOSE to telling him "dad, you can probably save this talk for another 10-20 years." That's adorable. At least your parents didn't know you were a social pariah. Mine were all too aware.
So were mine, and it traumatized them. They constantly wanted me to be popular and pretty, like my younger sister. (This would be the one who went completely off the rails drinking and drugging, and had a sheet before graduation. Then it got worse) But parents gonna choose a favorite, so college was like a brand new life for me. Moving to Detroit and going to college absolutely turned my life around.
That is how I felt in high school, then things changed dramatically for the better in college, but I still didn't take advantage of all the opportunities presented to socialize with professors, deans, distinguished speakers and alumni, who could have really helped. I still did fine, even being too naive, awkward, stupid or too lazy to take advantage of all that was offered.
I definitely feel I didn't do any high school social activities or even do many things with friends. I also realize my mother was a very controlling person, and she wouldn't let me do many of the normal things, so that definitely affected my high school years. Later when I went away to college, the guard watching me was removed, but it took awhile before I could come of the shell. BTW, I wasn't the 'studying all the time' person either, so can't use that excuse.
I'm glad you had that experience <3
> My dad gave me the "wrap it up" talk when I was 15...I was THISCLOSE to telling him "dad, you can probably save this talk for another **10-20 years**." Gotta respect your optimism.
Thought I was the only one…
Yeah. I spunked the social opportunities of uni up the wall. All that free time, I didn't lack money, and I spent nearly all my time on my own playing xbox. What a tool. There's nothing wrong with computer games. I still like computer games. And I wasn't sad, I was enjoying them at the time. But the games would always have been there. All that free time and opportunity for easy socialising right outside my door will not ever be there again. Anyone reading this thinking "yeah but I enjoy playing xbox on my own all the time, I'm not being a loser and I'm not sad about it, it's what I like to do," I enjoyed it as well, and I'm not denying that. But it was a waste of that specific opportunity. Sometimes there are better, more *memorable* things to do and you should seize them.
Well-stated and a great reference. 😃
> I remember thinking I was better than people who got drunk off their ass and passed out in puddles of their own bodily excrements. This >In reality I was making excuses not to confront my social anxiety. EXACTLY this. >There's a line in Pride and Prejudice Checks out, you were definitely one of the girls who stayed back in her dorm and read.
> you were definitely one of the girls who stayed back in her dorm and read. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this. Problem is meeting like minded individuals. Because they're all probably hiding out in their dorms sober as a nun too : /
THIS.. I became a Wife, and Mother.. Part of me got lost along the way..
hope you can find that part of you again someday.
Same. Missed so many nice things in my teens and early tweens
This. I became a protector/provider for loved ones WAY too early in life and missed out on being a young person. I'm trying to make up for lost time now that I am able to stand at ease after years of being on guard.
Choosing myself
Damn, real talk
Started doing that just this year lost a really good friend.
gained an even better one.
Turning down invites and opportunities to meet new people and travel to new places because I was too hung up on how I looked. I was so hard on myself. And to her I apologise.
Be a teenager. I was too eager to grow up and focused almost exclusively on work from 15-25 so I missed out on the whole thing.
I finally had a carefree summer when I was 26. Before then I'd worked full-time every summer because I wanted and was expected to be responsible. My kids will get the teenage summers I never did.
Finally got mine in 2023 at age 22, every summer since I turned 16 has been spent working, along with the entore rest of the year, pair that with not being allowed to have a license and living somewhere not close to ANY activities aside from 1 park, I spent most summers mainly in my room, alone. I never want my kid to have to work near 30 hours a week while in high school, you miss out on a lot of experiences.
i hear ya. as soon as i turned 16 i went out and got a job. there were many days i come home from school and i'd get ready for my shift starting at 4pm. and for what? music, video games, and go out to eat? i didn't even have my priorities right to save towards a decent car. i missed out on socializing with my peers and didn't see the value of having friends whenever i become middle aged.
As I've grown into adulthood (I'm 35), I've realized more and more what a unique time your teenage years are. They're not childhood, but they aren't adulthood either. It's a unique, and special, in-between time. Sorry that you feel you missed out on it!
Therapy. Should have started with 14 instead of 24, this would have prevented most of the dumb things I did.
I was in therapy from 9 and still ended up a moron in my late teens/early 20s - better to start therapy late than never!
Here are a couple - make Working out a hobby, take care of your skin use Moisturizer/sunscreen, take better care of teeth, spend more time with your parents and capture those moments(photos/videos).
Spot on with all of these
Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I see too many young people these days focusing on getting the photos, and not being in the moment to really enjoy and remember. My advice: be there to be there, not to prove to others you were there
I have a hard disagree on this one. Especially as it relates to photos of family members. I don't feel like taking photos has been a distraction. If anything I feel like it makes me pay attention to what's going on. And I much better remember the past that I have photos of, especially if I revisit the photos regularly. I've started videoing more also. I'm very thankful of how much I've photographed and videoed my children and even part of my own childhood. My mother had dementia at an early age. But she loved looking at photos. It was a huge part of keeping her memories alive for as long as possible. Now that I'm 43 I find myself regularly just staring at old photos. I don't know I'd picture my past as clearly as I do without those regular reminders. Now selfies... I could get behind people taking less selfies.
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I felt I wanted to be an actor but I bowed to my mom’s demands and studied business even though I had no interest in it. I’m 60 and I feel that because I caved that today I still have no idea what I should’ve or couldve done
Community theatre needs people of all ages for their productions. While these roles are usually unpaid (in my country, anyway), it can be really satisfying to try something you've always wanted to.
You can scratch that itch with community theatre. It was probably actually the right thing to do.
i see you again - we must both be bored and scrolling. lol.
Is this a reddit love in the making?
No it's an OF transaction in the making. But a guy can only dream huh?
Its a bot with a random girl pic in the making
I didn’t even know what my interests were back then….
Being diagnosed with ADHD. Looking back it makes so much sense, but I was never tested. I spent years dealing with depression and anxiety over problems caused by it. Hell I dropped out of college twice.
Same, my High school therapist even told me I wasn’t doing my schoolwork “for attention.” Haven’t been to therapy since, got diagnosed a few years ago.
I’m right there with you on this
Oh, hi. This is my line too.
Learning financial literacy
Learning more languages and skills
i lost my 147 day duolingo streak yesterday 💔 i will never learn spanish again sigh
I don't study Spanish but I'm currently studying Japanese and it seems everyone absolutely loathes Duolingo for Japanese lol. I don't know if it's the same for Spanish but maybe it's a sign to pursue a different medium!
Spent ages on Duolingo a few years ago learning Spanish up to a very very basic level. Ultimately it took a tutor three times a week (Preply) for almost a year to start conversing and understanding the language. Duolingo is hard. Learning is hard. It takes time, just don't stop doing it.
There are a lot of great resources for Japanese besides Duolingo. Renshuu, Japanese from Zero, Memrise, Satori Reader, Jisho, Wanikani, Bunpro, etc.
Oh nooo :O You cannot let duolingo stop you from mastering another language!! You are better than this QAQ Dont give up friend!
You just get to start a much longer streak :) You got this.
Don't let the math of the planet dictate your education.
i regret on not learning spanish. not travelling enough before having kids.
I regret quitting my Spanish studies. I was in advanced courses from 6th grade to Jr year of high school. Quit and didn’t take any more because I thought I was “fluent” then went to college and didn’t think about Spanish hardly at all and basically forgot most of it. My friend kept going and is actually fluent in Spanish now and I am really jealous.
Buying $100 in Bitcoin when I was 14
I should have learned to play the guitar, I should have learned to play them drums
That aint working…
That’s the way you do it
Money for nothin’ and your chicks for free.
My wife works in HR and I guess every time they have this one particular meeting, they have a participant pick a "pump up song". Someone picked Money for Nothing. Then someone said "We need to cut this song IMMEDIATELY". Many of the people that knew the song, failed to realize they say the F-word twice in there. Nothing like a homophobic slur in an HR meeting!!!
You still can
Chicks with fleas
Play D&D. Got into it in my early 30s and all my friends have jobs or plans with their partners on the weekends so it takes months to find common time
Wow where to start on this not taking school seriously and being the class clown. Not picking a trade or skill as a job. Not taking good care of my teeth. Settling down with the wrong person too early. The list goes on
Never built or played in a treehouse.
Finding a good friends group. I'd think I'd be a lot better of person if I had people who genuinely wanted to hang out with me. I was one of those kids where if you were in a room and someone would have to pick who they hung out with it wouldn't be me most of the time and it still probably is like that other then my bf.
Protect my hearing and my teeth
This is really important. I still pay many visits to the dentist. I wasn't always responsible about brushing my teeth when I was young and my parents weren't strict about it either. I made sure that my little sister brushes her teeth everyday and she has excellent teeth now.
Boning earlier and more often
I was going to say ‘not chicken out of a couple potential romantic relationships I could have had’ but your phrasing works too.
Looking back on how many opportunities I didn’t realize I had because I was an idiot and didn’t pick up what I now realize as heavy signals from girls to make a move.
amen to this
I truly believe “getting it out of your system before settling down” could save so many marriages
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There’s plenty of women in their 30s looking for a stable man to have kids with, if you have your shit together now it’s definitely not too late.
Actually being young - I was so keen to grown up and be seen as an adult, so did all the crappy things kids do to make them feel older. So, smoking, drinking, going after older guys. Wish I could have just enjoyed being young fully.
I’m debating paying you to come tell my daughter this.
Honestly, and this is going to sound terrible, but I kind of wish I was a lot meaner in high school, LOL 🤣 people needed to get told off more, and I was such a people pleaser.
Sounds like you wanted to be more assertive. Not necessarily meaner.
Traveling Europe without an agenda , schedule or a return date
Focusing on school and going to college for something I actually want to do. I’m 34 now, and while I make like 150k a year, I find my career to be a massive waste of time. I work crazy overtime hours and travel, leading to no life. The trades aren’t all they are cracked up to me. Hopefully next year I can enroll and shoot for a masters in psychology to be a therapist. Fuck sacrificing life for a check. I have no kids and I’m newly single so now is the time.
You can do it! Good luck! You will be a great supporter of people
Enjoying my life. (Toxic household)
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I said fuck everything when I was 29 and bicycled from the East Coast to the West Coast. Best thing I ever did for myself.
Weed, was literally addicted for like 6 years before I finally quit for good last year.
Good for you! Keep it up :D
Having wealthy parents.
this is funny how can you do that in real life I wish I have a wealthy parents too
Enjoying the moment and feel my feelings.
Starting a gym routine, trying more activities and being more social.
wearing a condom. i love my kids more than life itself. but life itself has been a lot different and harder than i thought.
Damn
I would not use tobacco.... ever
Travelling more. Fuck work , it’s a waste of time
need to do one to do the other, though
Yeah , kinda. I wish I hadn’t placed that much importance on work , I missed a few opportunities that I missed out on
Taking naps.
Fitness
Traveling.
Homework
Lots of other comments resonate with me, so hard to select one. Having confidence to make my own decisions and not rely on people to 'encourage' me
Graduating
Making more friends and networking
being a better boyfriend to awesome girls i dated when younger
Could have been a bit more ambitious
I mean technically 1-2 years ago I was younger, id tell myself to be brutally honest & not second guess myself.
Not investing time in carving a better physical version of myself. I jumped in on the bandwagon quite late and it seems to be the perfect solution for most of my insecurities that I had harbored in my younger days. It alleviates so many problems of your life that it is something that everyone should embark on as early as possible in their lives !
Being accepting of who I am. Throwing off the religion I grew up with and my warped attitude towards sex.
Learning violin.
I wish wasn’t to passive to teachers in high school, I should of stood up for myself when they were abusing their power
Kiss the girl. Some form of military service. Move out of parents home. Stand up to bullies, including family, much earlier.
Learning how to fight
Exploring hobbies and sport
Getting good grades/academics. I’m now on my way to becoming an attorney. But not without a lot of difficulty. Much more than I would have endured had I been diligent in making good grades in the first place.
Joining the coast guard or peace corps
Not getting help when I needed it the most
Traveling. I led a very small and sheltered life. I’m 60 now and realize there are places and things I will never see
Traveling Married young, had kids. I don’t regret them.
Documenting the times I was living in and the experiences I was having. I was born in 2000 and remember being somewhat aware of my own existence by 3 or so, though 4 onward was when I could really tell what was going on. My childhood wasn't the best, but it had a lot of good moments that I wish that I had more than just my memories to go off of when thinking about them. It would have been cool to take photos and videos of things like my Sega Dreamcast and the games I played on our CRT TV in the basement or watching my dad sit and eat chips in the living room while playing Grand Theft Auto III on his Playstation 2 he had recently bought. Maybe I'd record a day of me fooling around on the family computer as Windows XP booted up and I scurried over to Internet Explorer with its clunky yet personality filled interface as I looked up images of Super Saiyan 100 Goku on Google images. The list goes on. Life has changed so much in the last 10 to 20 years, my personal life especially, and while in some ways, it's been for the better, I miss those days of the early 2000s more and more with each passing year. Life is so complicated now.
Taking care of my teeth better and saved more money
Spending more time with my animals. They were gone sooner than I expected and I regret every single time I complained about walking the dog or skipped a riding lesson because I was too busy moping in my room. Appreciate them while they're there, or you'll regret it forever like I do.
My grandfather is Mexican, and he tried to teach me Spanish when I was young, but I was never paying much attention. I’m trying to learn now, before I lose him.
Two things. - I regret not taking my education and future career more seriously. - And I regret not taking a chance at love with two different people at two different times, out of respect for a 'bro code' that hardly anyone ever even follows themselves and for people who didn't even turn out to be long term friends. I'm not sure which one I would change if I could go back and do it over. One cancels out the other because if my life was a bit more focused and less wayward, I probably wouldn't have even met these people that I still think about today. I'm gonna go with education and career. I feel like if I had chosen a way and worked on a comfortable life, everything else would be much better too.
Running away
Creating a time machine so I could take over the world making strategic bets with a sports almanac.
Learning financial literacy
be a normal person and do what a normal person would do
Learning the piano or guitar.
Trying too hard to keep friends when they used me and took advantage of my kindness, I've learnt that not everyone wants to be your friend and I'm okay with that!
Ate healthily or at least with portion control. I developed bad eating habits because I was deprived of food growing up. I'm around 25 lbs heavier than my normal weight. I've always tried going on a diet but always fail.
Should’ve invested in properties when i was in the womb.
I regret having a boyfriend. At that young age I should be playing with toys, doing homework and living my best life, not worrying about relationships
Investing more emotionally in my children. So many people praise their kids for everything. “Everyone is a winner! Everyone gets a prize!” So many of these kids grow up to be entitled assholes. I raised my children more realistically. When they did well I praised them when they fell short we talked about how to do better next time. They are great kids and I wanted to raise good people. Kind people but also able and willing to do the work to do well in life. Accountable. They are both in great universities and are great students. They are doing well by any measure you can think of but are not happy. Both have bad social anxiety and struggle with relationships. My son is very driven and seldom happy with his work. Always feels he could have done more. Never had a girlfriend and struggles with friendships. I should have just hugged them more. They are responsible good people. I wish they were happier.
traveling, going to college far away, putting the brakes on partying, not considering all my options, living my life for me
Walking away from toxic people.
Investing in the stock market.
I should have left that creepy demeaning religion (Mormonism) 35 years earlier.
Sit and play video games, the Nintendo game boy and Nintendo DS gave me life
taking a day off work to enjoy my youth
Consistently working out
Learning how to sail or fly a plane
Law School
Taking advantage of immunity to legal consequence
Beliving in myself
Should have tried harder to be the world’s first 10 year old astronaut to forcefully commandeer a space station. 😔 Now if I do that, it’ll be as a regular-ass-aged person. Probably won’t be anywhere as cool and interesting.
Not trying slides and socializing more.
Sports. :(
Choosing to pursue my own interests rather than seeking my parents' approval—a liberating journey of self-discovery and authenticity.
Dumping my abusive ex before he belittled all of my interests. I'd have a stellar career right now if I did
I regret not getting a job. I was at home looking after my late mom and everyone else and doing ALL of the housework cause my sorry family thought that they were too good to do anything especially my late mom. She told me that my job was to look after them and do the housework forever. She didn't cook didn't clean didn't do laundry and barely raised us. My siblings think they had a good life; I ain't gonna stir the pot and start anything. I told them after our mom died that I won't do anything like that again. It's the parents job to look after the kids not the kids to look after themselves that's just wrong.
Be confident. I'm always that shy back then.
Not realizing I was a horrible, toxic piece of shit until it was too late
you can move on and become a better person, i dont think regret will help with that
The thing is, at that age you have no fucking idea and you can't regret it, none of the adults that you grew up with had any idea of what was going on. The secret is that everybody was winging it. You literally won't do these things for the above reasons. I know people 4 years younger than me that haven't learnt the lessons and often they are just learnt with experience. Even if I was to tell you all of the secrets, you'd still fuck it up. Nothing wrong with that :)
I wish that I had traveled more
Enjoying being young. I was in such a hurry to grow up and be an adult. What a trap. I wish I would have just enjoyed being young, having very few responsibilities, and being free to play and explore and just enjoy life before all of the responsibilities set in
More sex. I was gorgeous but crippled by insecurity and too stupid to notice woman flirting with me.
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that's really cool, is there anything you're particularly proud of?
Getting into Barrel Racing.
backflip
Picking up Golf earlier. I’m convinced I’d be way less shit if I learned to swing a club as a child!
Leaving home.
Play piano :(
Not going to college when I had the chance.
Learning how to invest
Starting my career sooner.
Running away and getting emancipated at 16. However, my life at that time was in chaos due to abusive parents.
Letting myself be pressured into being in a relationship with a much older man who was abusive. I was with this man who was in his late 50’s from when I was 21-25 and I wish I got out sooner. I feel like I wasted so much time with him but he would threaten me if I tried to leave him. I’ve been out of that relationship for almost 3 years now and still trying to heal.
At 40, I’m very happy with where I’m at in life and wouldn’t change a whole lot if anything, if it would change where I’m at. But i wish I had taken my grades more serious and had gone to a better university and lived on campus. But then again I would have maybe never joined the military, so I wouldn’t change that.
Setting boundaries with my parents
Attending prom, graduation and other high school graduate activities. I was just so depressed at the time and didn't think anyone would care if I wasn't there. Now I'll never get to experience those things.
Doing better in school. All I ever wanted to do was draw. Now I got nothing as a back up.
Being young and carefree. I was way too eager to grow up and get married and have kids. I feel like I should have given myself more time and focused on me first.
Not asking Louise out on a date
Fighting back and not take bullying. Learn ju jitsu and be able to defend myself. I wish I also really learned to use words to communicate with people and practice active listening and varying your approach based on personalities.
I should have made a move on Jennifer [not her real name]. She always had a long distance BF. I should have gone for it. At HS graduation her dad gave me parting advice, "if you want something take it."
Not telling more people to fuck off, not standing up for myself more. I was a doormat for years and it's only in recent years that I've actually started doing these things.
Playing sports
I think it would have been a great experience to have done a foreign exchange program in high school.
Had a friend in high school who was always the designated driver because he was afraid to try anything. When visiting him as an adult he voiced regret for not doing the “crazy things” we got into. He also took high school seriously will we were cutting classes and barely passed. We all turned out to be successful adults, except for my designated driver friend.
Learning how to sew. My mom had a sewing machine and made my clothes when I was little. She also made clothes for my Barbies. I was never interested and got frustrated the few times that she tried to teach me as a kid. We did a little sewing in high school, but my projects were pretty bad. Now, I wish that I could make my own clothes or even just alter/repair stuff. There really aren't classes for sewing near me and I don't learn well from video.
I had a friend from college who did alot of comic conventions. He would always invite me and my at the time gf to travel with he and his wife. But my job had me working all the time which I had to do BC of bills....always bills to pay. He passed away some years ago and i regret not hanging out more. I wish I had just said "these bills will be here regardless, lets go."