If you could re-live your life, what one thing would you change?

[POed_Ex_Repub]

For me, I think I would have paid more attention in math class or majored in something different in college.

[camero]

1. I would have went to college

Voc rehab was gonna give me a scholarship when I was 18. Biggest mistake I ever made.

[DarkSim]

2. BUSH!

i would have studied law and ended up as the head of the Supreme court then i would have made sure W. never gets into office.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

3. I don't think changing one thing would have made a difference

Life is pretty much a series of accidents..and every event bleeds into another.

[mhr]

4. Never, Never, Never Get Married!

What a mistake that was!

[Liberal Veteran]

5. I would have told my first love to take a hike....

And those of you who know my story know why.

[arwalden]

12. Sigh. Yep.

For me... I was about to answer that I should have exited an abusive relationship sooner than I did... but if I had, would I still be where I am today?

There are one or two things I might change, but not if those changes would mean that I'd have to give up what I've got now.

-- Allen

[MinnFats]

6. Only One?

then, in general, i would say I'd waste less time.


with these subtexts:

1.) work harder in school;
2.) be a better friend and father;
3.) not waste time with women who pretended to care about me. one woman, mainly.


some bitterness there? oh, yeah

[TokenDemocrat]

7. Birth control. Sooner.

[scarlet_owl]

8. I never would have let myself be abused.

Definately a do-over. I'm still paying for it all these years later.

[izzie]

11. Well kids are not easy so this looks good.

I would have stayed in college when I first went. I went back years later but it would have been a better thing to do as a young women not after I had all those kids.

[SoCalDem]

9. I would have chosen rich parents who died when I was 21

I would be the only child.. They were mean so it didn't matter when they died..:)..


seriously... I would have realized that a free ride 4 yr scholarship was valuable.. I would have gotten a degree...and probably would have lived in San Francisco..or overseas..

I

[moof]

10. Buy Yahoo when it went public.

Thought about it, seemed right, had seen the boys on a PBS show several months before they had their IPO.

But again & again it was impossible to get past the point
that they just were not going to have anything to sell.

Oh well, can't take it with you.

[Hubert Flottz]

13. The Outcome Of Election 2000 in the Supreme Court!

I'd also try and change the FReeper's fascist attitudes!

[RebelOne]

14. I wouldn't have gotten married at 16.

I was a dummy and eloped with my boyfriend. That's the one main thing I would change in my life. Because 9 years later, I was divorced with 2 children.

[DODI]

15. I would have paid more attention and worked harder in school

and finished college -- although I can still do that.

[terrya]

16. I would have strived to be more assertive.

Often, I think of myself as an emotional doormat. I've been used, to my detriment, in the past.

Terry

[rbnyc]

17. I wouldn't risk changing anything.

One little change and I may have never met my husband. I'd never risk it.

:)

[BiggJawn]

18. Second marriage...Would NOT have done it.

I'm still undeciuded about the first. After all, that's how I got my daughter.

The second one? Wooo......

Lemme tell you kids something, NEVER get married "for the sex". It ain't worth it!

[ScreamingMeemie]

19. Finish.college.

and.not.have.my.daughter.so.young....although.she.is.the.light.of.my.life.

Sorry.for.punctuation....MrsGrumpy.is.going.out.to.buy.a.new.keyboard.today.

:hi:

[populistmom]

20. Let's not even go there

Makes me too depressed to think about it right now. :(

[jmowreader]

21. I'd have joined the Navy instead of the Army

The Navy seems to take a lot better care of its people than the Army.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

28. Yep, better food, and you always have a roof when you sleep.

Info from my BF's Navy Vet father. Oh, and they have better food. Always a hot meal too.
Duckie

[Fight_n_back]

22. My Parents

I would choose to have some.

[Lostmessage]

23. I would have gotten married at 21

I wouldn't have the blues right now If I would have gotten married.

[Djinn]

24. would have stayed a uni (college)

and finished my degree while I still had the opportunity of living with Ma & Pa Kettle and having them pay all the bills - although I've only got more and more disillusioned with the media as the years have passed and if I had finished the Journo degree I probably would have felt guilty if I didn't take a media job (wasted years and all that) and I'd most likely be re-writing PR releases and hating it.

the other one would have been to tell the guy I had a huuuuuuuuuuge thing for at school (along with almost every girl at school) apprently the feeling was mutual and I might have found out a lot earlier what a complete twat he was (and is) and saved myself some stress

[Lostmessage]

29. I wouldn't have been living in the country

I would have been where you are at right now with a bunch of kids.

[smallprint]

25. i would have taken another year off from college

i took one year off, and i was just starting to figure things out, and was thinking about taking another year... and then my dad convinced me to go back. oops. big mistake. the rest of my time there was miserable...now, 9 years later, i'm just getting back to where i was then...

i think about this question a lot, maybe too much... i think that it's not a useful exercise unless you actually give some advice to someone younger than you who's struggling...

so if there are any college students reading this who hate being in school, think it's mostly a bunch of hypocritical BS, and want to get out into the world and make a difference now... well, pack your bags and GET THE HELL OUT!! GO ALREADY!! you can come back, the books will be waiting for you...

[SOteric]

26. Nothing I'd talk about in an internet forum

but, boy-Howdy, it's a doozie.

[VelmaD]

51. Ditto

:-)

[AlienGirl]

27. That part where I got born

[foreigncorrespondent]

30. Listened more in school...

...so I wouldn't be in the mess I am in now. Sappho and I would be in the same damn country, in the same damn house, and we would never have experienced the pain forced separation brings.

Oh if only I knew then, what I know now!

[LosinIt]

31. Had the nerve to pursue med school is the big one

but then I wouldn't have the kids I have now. Although there are times when they TRULY push all of my buttons, I wouldn't give them back. Another minor thing is I would have learned to downhill ski. I was afraid of the chairlift. Now I am older with a back that wouldn't appreciate it.

[gator_in_Ontario]

32. Wouldn't change a thing

through the good and the bad, I have never been bored.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

33. I would have been more rebellious as a teenager

and not let my mother and grandmother intimidate me.

[MissMillie]

34. I would have turned away from all the losers I hooked up w/ in my youth

And saved myself for someone who had actually planned on sticking around.

[Red State Rebel]

35. Not A Thing....

I've done some really stupid things in my life, made some boneheaded decisions (I gave up a 4 year scholarship to stay home and get married at 19)but I believe that everything I have done and experienced has made me the person I am today and I'm happy with that.

One monumentally stupid thing I did (no, I'm not going to confess) made me understand the importance of forgiveness. I needed it so much that I became hyper aware of my need to forgive others also. This was a life changing thing for me as I had held a lot of past hurts for a long time. It's amazing how freeing it can be to forgive someone and let things go. It also taught me how much easier life can be if you are able to let yourself say "I'm Sorry" to people.

So.... I guess more than anything, the experiences in my life, both good and bad, have taught me that I control my happiness, not anyone else. Regardless of the circumstances and suprises that life gives me, how I decide to react to them is what makes the difference.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

36. I wouldn't have let my self get fat.

[bif]

37. I would have done a lot more screwing before I got married.

I was a pretty late bloomer.

[non sociopath skin]

38. I would have learnt to play the piano.

Maybe I still could?

The Skin

[mac56]

39. One thing isn't enough.

Too many things should have been done differently.

I would generally get out of shitty situations quicker, rather than stay in them hoping for improvement.

[felonious thunk]

40. I would have learned about those moths sooner

Yes, that would have saved me many problems, if I'd known what they were up to before this.

[regularguy]

41. I'd do everything the same, except without the guilt.

.

[Richardo]

42. I think we know Jethro Tull's David Palmer's answer to that question...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=675672

:D

[ohiosmith]

43. My underwear.

[myrna minx]

44. I would have never

have inhaled my first cigarette. Lisa, while handing me a Kent 100 which she stole from her folks, taught me how to "inhale." Sitting upon a hill when I was 14 has had beautiful pink lungs, said "alright." Dumbest. thing. ever.

[Edge]

45. I would have taken care of my personal problems

a lot sooner than I have.

[northzax]

46. anything? well, ok, I would have been born a republican

cause then I could live my life without giving a shit about anyone else. must be easier.

[ronnykmarshall]

47. School

Would have worked harder in school and finished college.

Told a couple of old boyfriends to get lost or never dated them in the first place.

[trof]

48. My socks.

More often.
;-)

[Sapphocrat]

49. Just one thing?

In chronological order:

Gotten a degree.

Stayed out of one particularly abusive relationship.

Bought stock in Sun, Netscape, Yahoo, and eBay when I knew I should have.

Taken the risk and gone back to Australia with fc the first time she had to leave.

But then, 20/20 hindsight is a beautiful thing.

[foreigncorrespondent]

53. Don't regret anything.

Life is a learning experience.

[Bertha Venation]

50. picking just one: wouldn't have gotten involved with Karen Sue Reid

I don't know if she's changed and I don't care. She was my first lover, and she was a psychotic bitch from hell. Long story short, when I knew her she threatened to off herself several times, and twice started to do so with me -- driving off a dead-end road down a ravine, and holding a gun to my head a là "I can't live without you and I won't let you live without me."

<shudder>

[Parrcrow]

52. I'd be taller

Just as realistic to beat myself up about that one as anything else.

You're all doing fine gang. And even if the world is shit, at least we're all in it together.

[LastKnight]

54. i wouldnt have been so over cautious...

im way to cautious in life... i never just 'go for somethin' i have to think everything out it seems... and i just wanna be able to just go for something sometime... without freaking out before doing everything.

-LK

[A-Schwarzenegger]

55. Not been so rich, famous, muscalur, and beautiful

so that I would know who loves me for who
I am instead of who I think I am.

[Iris]

56. I live in the South, and

if I could change one thing it would be when I was 24 and had a few thousand dollars saved up. Instead of being a teacher in the poorest county in GA after my bank job was eliminated, I would have taken about $500 and got in my car and just driven north until that money ran out and tried to make a life wherever I ended up.