Would you change 1 thing about your past if you could?

[InChiefsHeaven]

As has been mentioned, regardless of the good, bad or ugly in my life, to change any of it would absolutely mean I am not who I am today. Like most people, I have real regrets in life, real pains inflicted by me on others, and also on me by others. It hurts sometimes to revisit these moments in my head, and even in cases where I have been injured but forgave the person, it still hurts. Maybe it's supposed to. It reminds us all that our sins are never personal, and our actions have consequences that are way beyond ourselves.

In any case, I love my life that I have now. I have regrets, but I take solace in the knowledge that those pains were part of a past which has brought me to this present...and this has been a great life so far.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by InChiefsHeaven

As has been mentioned, regardless of the good, bad or ugly in my life, to change any of it would absolutely mean I am not who I am today. Like most people, I have real regrets in life, real pains inflicted by me on others, and also on me by others. It hurts sometimes to revisit these moments in my head, and even in cases where I have been injured but forgave the person, it still hurts. Maybe it's supposed to. It reminds us all that our sins are never personal, and our actions have consequences that are way beyond ourselves.

In any case, I love my life that I have now. I have regrets, but I take solace in the knowledge that those pains were part of a past which has brought me to this present...and this has been a great life so far.

Sure, I regret things in my life. Everyone does. No one is perfect. Its part of what shapes us as humans.

[ThaVirus]

I mentioned some things in the other thread but the major things I’d change if given the opportunity are purely financial.

First off, I’d have bought a house prior to 2021. Really wish I wasn’t such a puss and found a way to make that work. I balked because “Well what if I get a job offer in another city?” “What if I regret it?” “What if, what if, what if..”. Houses I had my eye on were going for $290k at 3.5% in 2019 and now the same houses are going for $550k at 7.5%.

Another thing is that I wish I’d have gotten into investing earlier. From the early 2010s until the early 2020s I didn’t invest a cent. I saved well and felt good about how safe that was, but I was ignorant and didn’t realize 1) inflation was eating up my savings as quickly as it went to my account and 2) I was missing out on major gains. It looks like the S&P500 has just about quadrupled since I graduated college. I missed out on the majority of that growth.

[Pepe Silvia]

I wish I could go back in time and stop Doc from getting killed.

[scho63]

Originally Posted by Pepe Silvia

I wish I could go back in time and stop Doc from getting killed.

Hey look everyone, McFly is out of the Romper Room.

[Pepe Silvia]

Originally Posted by scho63

Hey look everyone, McFly is out of the Romper Room.

I've been out.

[scho63]

Originally Posted by Pepe Silvia

I've been out.

Parole?
Probation?
Halfway house?

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Pepe Silvia

I wish I could go back in time and stop Doc from getting killed.

I wish I could go back in time and murder John Connor.

[Pitt Gorilla]

I wouldn't change a thing; I've been truly blessed.

[Katipan]

Dear God ThaVirus knows him too.

[rtmike]

Going out on the sand dunes on my Banshee all tuned up.

[kccrow]

I worked with my father the summer I graduated from high school at a foundry that produced transmission parts for Allison and CAT. Nearly the entire summer had passed, and I was set to start my first year of school for mechanical engineering. We were working, primarily, 7 days a week, 10-hour days. One day he asked me to drive home because he was tired. I didn't think much of it and said yes. I fell asleep at the wheel 3 miles from home and rolled the truck. That accident left him a quadriplegic and me relatively unscathed. I do wish I could go back in time and not drive that day.

As a consequence of that accident, he ended up dying from septicemia 7 years later because the nurses at the University of Michigan hospital didn't change his catheter for 4 days because they "didn't have the correct one to fit him." Meanwhile, my mother was his primary caregiver at home and had a suitcase full of the correct ones in the van we traveled in. Never once did they ask her if she had one, and we'd assumed they were properly changing them. One day he was feeling warm and she could sense a smell, lifted his sheet to check his bag, and could see the infection in his urine. She called the doctor herself. That trip was merely for a medical and ergonomical evaluation mandated by the insurance company to determine his needs going forward.

Not only did I have to live with the accident, keeping my father, best friend, and hunting and fishing buddy, primarily bedridden and only able to speak, but he was prematurely taken because of neglect. So if you ever wonder why I'm a bitter, aging man and hate the UofM, you have your answers.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by kccrow

I worked with my father the summer I graduated from high school at a foundry that produced transmission parts for Allison and CAT. Nearly the entire summer had passed, and I was set to start my first year of school for mechanical engineering. We were working, primarily, 7 days a week, 10-hour days. One day he asked me to drive home because he was tired. I didn't think much of it and said yes. I fell asleep at the wheel 3 miles from home and rolled the truck. That accident left him a quadriplegic and me relatively unscathed. I do wish I could go back in time and not drive that day.

As a consequence of that accident, he ended up dying from septicemia 7 years later because the nurses at the University of Michigan hospital didn't change his catheter for 4 days because they "didn't have the correct one to fit him." Meanwhile, my mother was his primary caregiver at home and had a suitcase full of the correct ones in the van we traveled in. Never once did they ask her if she had one, and we'd assumed they were properly changing them. One day he was feeling warm and she could sense a smell, lifted his sheet to check his bag, and could see the infection in his urine. She called the doctor herself. That trip was merely for a medical and ergonomical evaluation mandated by the insurance company to determine his needs going forward.

Not only did I have to live with the accident, keeping my father, best friend, and hunting and fishing buddy, primarily bedridden and only able to speak, but he was prematurely taken because of neglect. So if you ever wonder why I'm a bitter, aging man and hate the UofM, you have your answers.

Oh, my man. That’s so tough.

If your old man was like mine, I’m sure he would want you to know he loved you and was proud of you and tell you not to eat yourself up with regret over him.

[Katipan]

I’m sorry, kccrow. I wish you could go back too.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by Katipan

I’m sorry, kccrow. I wish you could go back too.

Thanks to you and the many who sent PMs about it. I've learned that life is seldom easy, and never take the time you have with your family for granted.