What would you have done differently?

[LBTC]

temporary co-worker, 15 years younger than I am, and very healthy, asked me this today (I had been cautioning her on not being a perfectionist - just look where it got me!)

I thought about this as I walked home tonight....my brain rattled through the usual: laugh more, play more, yada yada, then the aha moment:

cry more


so, what would you have done differently?

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[mountainchick]

maybe only gone to a different college so i wouldn't be racked with the debt i am, but other than that....nothing!

its been hard, easy, fun, lots of ups and downs but i'm happy where i am, and past decisions have gotten me here so i can't complain!

[bmccasland]

Laugh more

If things in life (relationships, jobs) are affecting your health and you've made reasonable attempts to correct the problems (talk with supervisors or bosses, counseling), then RUN! That could be figuratively or literally. Definitely find and activity to get outside away from work - riding bikes, hiking, gardening, playing catch with the dog. There's more to life than work (unless you're one of those really lucky people that loves their job) and housework.

[Pax]

I would have gotten out and stayed out of the stifling environment that is the Midwest.

That and when I was a firefighter I would have (should have) fought them harder to stay on the department after I was injured.

[indysteel]

There's lots I would have done differently, but here are a few things off the top of my head:

I would have taken a semester/year to travel abroad before becoming an attorney. In that same vein, I wish I'd done something of service like Americorps before saddling myself with student loans from law school. But if I'm really rewriting my life, I would have become a journalist/writer instead of a lawyer.

I would have taken more risks, e.g., I would have moved away after law school and just hoped for the best. I'm a very cautious person and I think that, more than my abilities or skill set, has held me back.

I would have spent less time crying over ex-boyfriends and more over lost friends.

Of course, I would have taken up cycling and yoga a lot earlier.

I would have volunteered more.

I would never have gotten a tv or cable. I didn't own a tv for a long time and regret that I ever bought one (I know, I know. What's stopping me from getting rid of it now.....) Instead, I wish I would have become an NPR junkie a lot sooner.

I wish I'd recognized when I was younger that I didn't need to know all the answers, that I didn't even know all the questions and that I should have just relaxed and gone with the flow a lot more. It's great to be driven and to have a plan, but I think you also need to be open to surprises.

[Duck on Wheels]

1) I'd have said no to that position in a social club back in high school, rather than worry about not being able to do what was expected, not even agree with what was expected, and then simply not do it.
2) Thought before speaking and thus avoided unintentionally insulting a high school classmate.
3) Not threatened to chuck out DDs comics if she didn't clean them up by deadline, so that I then wouldn't have had to follow through on the threat.
4) Taken DS Iceland pony riding that one day on Iceland, rather than joining the rest of the gang (two-family trip) sightseeing in town.

Other than that, I don't really have a lot of regrets. Sure, I could have done lots of things different or better, but I don't think I've done them so badly as to be hurtfull so I think I should just accept my weaknesses and move on.