Life Reflection: Would you do anything differently?

[MrBig1]

I can honestly say, I wouldn't change a thing. Was life always grand, absolutely not. Have things always gone my way, nope. That being said, I like where I am right now and the people in my life bring me joy. I would be afraid to change anything that would make my life different now.

 

[Souschef]

I can honestly say, I wouldn't change a thing. Was life always grand, absolutely not. Have things always gone my way, nope. That being said, I like where I am right now and the people in my life bring me joy. I would be afraid to change anything that would make my life different now.

+100, especially my DW! We just celebrated our 10th anniversary

 

[Dhickman57]

Lots of humor in the replies,but I know they are all serious.

I would not change a thing as every experience has created the person I am today. Not perfect but I am content with who I am, it has taken many years to realize this is OK.

 

[pullin]

I wish I had studied the first time I went to college. It was tough leaving a career and re-doing it as a married adult.

 

[Danmar]

I wish I had studied the first time I went to college. It was tough leaving a career and re-doing it as a married adult.

Likewise. Except when I went back I studied something I had an aptitude for (business). First time around it was Physics. Don’t know what I was thinking.

 

[bloom2708]

I would have moved our family to a nicer climate when the kids were young. I believe I have underestimated the draining effect of long cold winters, long springs, short summer and short falls.

I think if we could have escaped other family would have followed our lead. When older, kids were anchored, now will be anchored by college.

No easy way to bend the family tree. Oh well, time to go shovel snow.

 

[albireo13]

I would have been more serious early in my career about saving into 401k and IRAs.

 

[check6]

I'm still undecided whether buying an airplane in 1975 was a good thing or not. I was 25, was making more than half again what my father did at his peak and really didn't know a thing about handling money. Financially of course it was a disaster, but I sure had a ball with it! I still treasure the memories of some of the flights I took and most especially the 1976 trip to Oskosh. Other pilots here will understand the significance of making that aviation pilgrimage. For that week Oskosh, Wisconsin is the busiest airport in the world and there was an air show every day. I'd never seen a P-51 Mustang (famous WWII fighter) IRL and was astonished that it wasn't a whole lot bigger than my Piper Tri-Pacer. I slept in a tent under the airplane wing and awoke at 6:00 AM daily to the music(?) of a Boeing 737 at takeoff thrust 50 yards away. It was fun at the time.

Walt, I think you missed your calling.

I followed my heart and spent 45 years in a cockpit. It wasn't always an easy road but surprisingly went pretty much as planned. I feel like the luckiest guy in the world getting paid for something I love to do. Unfortunately now I have to pay for it but I still love it!

 

[kcowan]

I would have moved our family to a nicer climate when the kids were young. I believe I have underestimated the draining effect of long cold winters, long springs, short summer and short falls.

I passed up the opportunity to go to UC Berkeley from Toronto. I can only imagine how my life might have been different!

 

[Helen]

I've made errors along the way, but most of them were pretty small. I have one thing that haunts me but I won't go into that here.

My life has turned out very well and I think about that and appreciate it every day. I had wonderful parents, have a wonderful spouse, have great friends, good health and have more money than I need. I did not expect to end up here but I am very grateful that I did.

 

[sengsational]

The thing about this question is that it's nearly impossible to answer 'logically'; avoiding the cognitive dissonance of admitting a wrong turn is too strong. For example, people who did something obviously ill advised and ended up quadriplegic are quoted as saying that it was the best thing that ever happened to them!

 

[trueson1]

Wish I had had the guts to stand up for myself and others before I got to be 50. I feels pretty good now to be able tell all the bullies and other a**holes where to stick it when they try to run roughshod over people. Of course I know that much of this comes with age and experience.

 

[friar1610]

I was a career naval officer and have no regrets about that choice. But looking back, I wish I had found time for teaching as a career too. Either:
A. Teaching for 10 - 15 years after the Navy.
B. Going into the Navy for 3-5 years after college and then teaching for a full career. Staying in the Naval Reserve at least until retirement eligibility. That would have supplemented the modest teacher salary and given me a 2nd (or 3rd) retirement income stream.

As it is I'm scratching my itch to teach by doing volunteer adult literacy tutoring.

 

[athena53]

I can honestly say, I wouldn't change a thing. Was life always grand, absolutely not. Have things always gone my way, nope. That being said, I like where I am right now and the people in my life bring me joy. I would be afraid to change anything that would make my life different now.

That's my thinking; I probably should not have married my first husband. The marriage ended in flames and both DS and I took a long time to recover from living in a war zone. (Just last month I had a bad dream with my Ex in it- 20 years after the divorce, 7 years after his death, with a happy second marriage in the meantime).

BUT- I have DS. I have a wonderful DIL and two BEAUTIFUL granddaughters. They wouldn't be in my life if I'd married someone else. And, even though my Ex spent every dime he ever made and then some, the portion of the inheritance from his parents that he didn't squander went into a down payment on the marital home, which sold at a hefty profit when we divorced. My share went into a down payment on a smaller home but when I sold that I got a 100% return on my down payment and then moved to a LCOL area and invested almost all of it in mutual funds. It provided a big stake in my future financial security.

 

[LXEX55]

I would have enlisted in the Army. Given it a try.

 

[brett]

I had a very successful career in IT but I have a tiny regret about not going on to law school. I am truly thankful for what I have and the experiences that I have had/enjoyed. This is in no means by way of complaint.

 

[World Traveler]

I had some bumps along the road that I could have handled a lot better but I don't think I would change much of anything. Feeling thankful amongst the season of Thanksgiving. ER has giving me the freedom to serve my Lord, others and my community.

 

[Aerides]

I tend to take the zen approach of "no" in that anything I might otherwise regret or think unwise in my past, if changed, would mean I wouldn't be where I am now. And now is good.

Sure, if I were suddenly 23 again, save more, save earlier, buy apple, don't marry that first husband.... but if I'd done those things I might not be where I am today, and I like today.

 

[aja8888]

I wouldn't mind a restart to about 24 when I got out of the military. Young, single, handsome, broke, fun to be with, in great physical shape, etc.... Who knows what would have happened again?

 

[dirt_dobber]

I had some bumps along the road that I could have handled a lot better but I don't think I would change much of anything. Feeling thankful amongst the season of Thanksgiving. ER has giving me the freedom to serve my Lord, others and my community.

Love this post.

 

[Elbata]

I would have moved our family to a nicer climate when the kids were young. I believe I have underestimated the draining effect of long cold winters, long springs, short summer and short falls.

I think if we could have escaped other family would have followed our lead. When older, kids were anchored, now will be anchored by college.

No easy way to bend the family tree. Oh well, time to go shovel snow.

As a young man, I hitch-hiked around the country to see where I'd like to live. I ended in So-Cal. It's said that the three most important things in life are health money and time. Weather is important to me also.