Alright you mangy old fucks - if you were young again - what would you change?

[HEyHEY]

I must say that I'd be a lot less uptight. When I was in my early 20s I was wound right up. Everything had a principle and what not. Now I see such things hold you back. Not that I advocate being a dink. But, most of the time, you don't need to be so rambo about things.
That and I'd spend less on booze and more one travel.

[Lil Missy]

1. I never did go all rambo about things. I just don't have the stomach for it.

I'd probably start by not referring to people as a bunch of "mangy old fucks." :)

And then, ... well, never mind.

[WinkyDink]

2. TOTAL higher education and career change. Teaching just was NOT for me (though it enabled me

to travel quite a bit and live well now).

[NewJeffCT]

3. a lot of things

Those girls and young women I was too shy to ask out in high school & college, I'd ask out...

I'd probably choose a different college to start, and maybe a different major (not sure what, though)

I'd also try new foods more readily...

And, I wouldn't get married that first time - my ex was good as a girlfriend, but neither of us were ready to be married.

[CBHagman]

4. Two words: confidence and humility.

Yes, that sounds contradictory.

Confidence: I'd learn how to recognize logical fallacies, learn how to disagree without being disagreeable, learn how to stand up to bullies and manipulators, learn to be respectful without being a doormat.

Humility: When I was in my teens and 20s, it was much easier to believe in absolutes and make sweeping generalizations, to indulge in self-absorption, to mistake conformity for harmony.

Life has a way of making you get over all of that.

But the thing is, just like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, we have to make the journey and learn these lessons for ourselves. If we're lucky, we'll gain wisdom early, but truly, no matter how good one's intentions are, there's no guarantee you'll learn the lessons that early.

Also, frankly, when I was younger, I didn't have the context for everything, and I didn't appreciate what my parents, aunts, grandmother, professors, teachers, and older friends had learned by experience. So to anybody on DU who wants to foment inter-generational warfare, please don't. We need all the minds we can get. We need to tap everyone's perspective.

[regularguy]

5. I would socialize/chase women less and

read and practice my guitar and travel more. But mostly I had a damn fun youth and don't particularly regret it.

[RadiationTherapy]

6. I took things a bit seriously as well, but luckily my brother nearly died!

So he helped me lighten up, quit Merrill Lynch, have my $600 per month conversion van voluntarily repossessed, drop out of college and travel. It is the defining time of my 20s.

I have no regrets other than a handful of hedonistic desires unfulfilled.

[JVS]

7. Travel sucks. There is a point when you get tired of being stuck out in Babylon.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

8. cure the mange

most likely

[dpbrown]

9. I'd have kids earlier

I wish I had that energy now. Whew!

[Z_I_Peevey]

10. I would totally reject social conventions, marriage and

small town sexual mores. I'd be a single mother. I'd focus on my career.

I'd find Donna Reed and kick her ass. I would vandalize white picket fences.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

11. I'd have smiled more.

I think I let people believe I was grumpier than I really was, and that drove many away.

[yellowdogintexas]

12. not finish college in 3 years.

not married at 20.
If I had not let him talk me into getting married when we did, I think we would have not married at all, which would have been much healthier for me.
However, I was firmly convinced at that time that I would not find anyone else who would love me enough to commit ..he was a pretty good boyfriend but getting married was so the wrong thing for me to do.

so..I would be so much less interested in getting married period

should have gone to grad school of some kind..retrospectively for an MLS degree.

In my 20's (which was 1968 - 1978) like the OP, everything was about righteous indignation, and I would get my back up about stuff that just doesn't matter on such a personal level any more.

[Iggo]

13. If I made better choices when I was young...

...some of the people I love would not be here.

So my answer, unfortunately, is "Not a damn thing."

[Help_I_Live_In_Idaho]

14. More sex less acid

Probably I would not jump into relationships with women so fast. Seems like I always wanted to have a full time woman. The problem was that, as I did my Cali-fornication bed hopping, there was always one I wanted full time. Because of this I was married three times. The only great times were the times between marriages when I'd have a whole bunch of gals I was screwing and a while lot of skiing, surfing, camping, fishing and partying.

Of all three,The only marriage that worked out was the last one. Now, when I look back, I think I should have screwed a lot more, and got married a lot less until I was ready and I had some knowledge about women. In terms of recreation, back in the 60's and 70's I did a lot of acid. If I had to do it again I would just do peyote and weed and I wouldn't drink booze. Finally I would have started whitewater kayaking as a teen - not in my 40's

nevertheless, I has a hell of a fun life, and it is still a gas - No regrets.

[hunter]

15. More frolicking in the wilderness with biologists, less deep philosophy...

I'd have taken Biochemistry instead of "The Old Testament as Literature," and I wouldn't have skipped out on Organic Chemistry classes to work. Work could've waited, I didn't exactly need the money then and flunking the class wasn't worth it.

I would have flirted with the women in the drawing classes I modeled for instead of thinking over and over and over again "Oh shit, what've I agreed to?" almost to the point of koro’ laso, mbaze, hidu tama, hei lulu, suo yang, suk yeong or whatever you want to call that... shrinkage.

Other than that, it's a miracle I didn't end up as some computer geek hermit toiling away at some technical job I hated until I fell over dead or went completely bat shit insane in a small room with a mattress on the floor, a computer in the corner, and photographs and code listings stapled all over the walls and ceilings.

[ailsagirl]

16. I'd take care of myself better... wear sunscreen!!

exercise
watch diet
read more

[hunter]

23. Stay out of the sun, that's for sure!

I hate it when doctors decide to cut mystery things out of my skin.

I also have a tube of fluoroucil with my name on it, but it scares the hell out of me, so I haven't used it yet.

[KitchenWitch]

17. I would have had my parents send me to a different high school.

[redqueen]

18. ...

[loveable liberal]

19. Remained a Chinese Major.

Life would have been very different.

[rebel with a cause]

20. Ran away from home,

pretended I had the freedom that was alloted males,
traveled and learned about life by seeing things for myself,
and died young.

no kids...no ties...no regrets...no nothing.

[Redstone]

21. 1) Not ride the skid. 2) Not get those concussions. 3) Not give up on the piano when

my parents moved and decided they couldn't afford to bring it.

Redstoe

[Courtesy Flush]

22. I haven't even thought about it for a while

I used to think that if I could go back in time I'd be a genius in school because, in retrospect, it wasn't hard at all. It was teenage stupidity that kept me from reaching my potential.

But now, approaching 50, I really don't think I'd give a rat's ass about school or grades. When I look back, it seems that most of what I know I learned outside of school. I guess I'd live more.

Studying is all well and good, but what are you studying? The lives of those who studied?

No. The lives of those who lived.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

24. I'd be a more rebellious teenager

:evilgrin:

Despite being a preacher's kid, it wasn't my dad who was a control freak; it was my mother and grandmother. There were several key points where I should have rebelled and didn't.

[GOPisEvil]

25. I would not have gone $30k in debt by the time I was 30.

I'm MUCH better now. Seriously.