If You Could Go Back on Time, How Far Would You Go If...

There were two instances where I ran my mouth and I wish I hadn't. One was work related (I was a brand-new supervisor with a big inferiority complex and I read someone the riot act who didn't really deserve it just because I could. Rookie mistake.) and the other was personal (was jealously protective of my ex-boyfriend and intimated to his new girlfriend that they would never be as close as we were. She was a horrible person anyway but my behavior was wholly inappropriate.) I hope I've learned from those experiences. I try much harder these days to not just looooove the sound of my own voice so much! Brevity is the soul of wit, is it not?

I wish I never quit piano. I am a decent enough player, but I could have been awesome. I also wish I learned to speak my mind earlier in life. I wouldn't want to be a kid again tho, so in that regard...it would suck to be a high schooler all over again.

I wouldn't change what I have now, but wouldn't it be nice to be able to pay a visit to yourself at the beginning of those difficult teenage years and just give that poor girl a boost of self-confidence and self-esteem? Plus, then I could warn her about a couple of things to avoid in five to ten years that would save a lot of time and money!

I would go back and stop myself from getting into the debt I did. My parents warned about credit cards but not about rip off high price insurance, contract gyms, expensive phone plans, etc. And I wouldn't have wasted a cent of my Marine Corps bonus on my idiot ex husband. Then I'd have an awesome credit score today and have more options for me and my lil bit.

I have been asked this question many times. I would never want to go back in time, I love the person I am today. Yes I got married too young, had kids too young, had to bust my butt to get my education at 38 but all of this showed me what an amazing person I am.

Didn't hurt that my son, who is way too much like me, made me laugh when I cried that I would be 42 when I graduate and he said so will I. :p

Would I have changed being adopted by a mom who was bi-polar? Without my childhood I would not have the strength I have today. Without that strength where would my children have learned to be strong.

Would I have no married my ex, without him I would not have four very unique, amazing, annoying, tiring kids.

When I met my fiancée he said god I wish I had met you 20 years ago. I said no, because I would have been too young and too stupid to know what I had. I would have wasted happiness on immaturity.

My life has not been perfect but it has been perfect for me.

After reading a couple other posts, when my daughter was 15 I was driving her and some friends past Washington University. My daughter said my mom almost went there, if she had she would be an amazing attorney now, and I would not exist. I think that about sums up regrets. She will be an amazing attorney in four years, that works for me. :)

I would go back and give education a lot more effort. I also know regardless of how far I would have taken the route I would still be in the same spot today raising my kids, Stinkerbelle and Stinkerella.

I would go back around mid 90s and travel the world. (That was when I had the time and the decent enough job to pay for it but the friends who weren't able to afford it lol) The adventures were plenty though and I miss being able to function on few hours of sleep.

I would go back to the 80s...just for the sake of reliving it. The music- Depeche Mode...Psychedelic Furs...Pet Shoppe Boys...Spandau Ballet...just to name a few. The fashion was so awful that it had to be cool. Friendships were tight and the alcohol was flowing LOL

My childhood was great so I would not mind reliving the 70s as well.

Overall there is not much I would change. Our past do mold who we have become and I like myself just fine. I would probably want to do more of the things I have done more that change what I have done.

Preschool. I'd love to go back and do it all again, knowing what I know as an adult. That would be really, really fun. A few things I would change. . . . I would insist on not taking years of dancing lessons, which I dreaded. Probably I would kick a few more activities to the side, and ask my Mom to look into some totally different ones that weren't just convenient to the same old carpool group. Most of all, I would be more self confident with my peers. I'd go out of my way to talk to more people, make more friends. I'd have the greatest comeback lines ever to the mean girls in 5th grade. I would not waste any time getting hung up on boys that never turned into Mr. Wonderful. I'd go farther away to college and travel so much more. Of course, if all that would guarantee that I'd still get my DH and 2 kids in the end!

i would be a much stronger, more confident teenager. so much desperation for acceptance and love. i still wince when i think of some of the treatment i permitted.
great question!
khairete
S.

Id dump a few guys sooner than i did, or never date them. Id take back my awful first time and give it to one of the 2 guys who actually loved me. Id spend time telling my parents how much i loved them before they died. Id save more money. I wouldnt have bought that first house,,,the money pit.

You could tell us the words in the song and maybe we can help you find out who sang it and you can order it online....in CD! ha ha

I would go back to HS ONLY if I could have my kids and husband now....I would be more confident in myself and not so insecure. Insecurity makes you do things and act in ways that are not who you really are. I didn't have a great father figure and therefor dated guys that were not good to me. I would have been more confident with my body too, if only I had that body now! :o) I would have majored in something more specialized in college and gone for a lot more money. I would have gone to my grandfather's funeral in Fla instead of saying I couldn't afford to go as a college student..truth is, I could handle it. I loved him so much. I would have taken better care of myself, my skin, with sunscreen, etc I would have traveled more before marriage and then when married before kids. and now, I wish, I wish, we would have saved more money and not spent so much. ;o)
Fun post but unfortunately I am still here with my past..... thanks for sharing

I wouldn't go back.
Even if I was promised I would still have the life I have now, everything that happened in the past happened for a reason, so I would decline.
While I went through my share of tough times, no regrets.
What year are we talkin about on the song? Was it a male singer or a female singer? Was it slow or fast? Do you know what kind of music...like r&b, rap, rock, country? Can you rule any of those out? Lets all try to help you figure it out! =)
Edited to Add: I just wanted to add I don't feel like my life and me for that matter is perfect at all. I was taught not to regret anything, own your mistakes, and learn from them. I get asked all the time if I "regret" marrying my ex-husband. It was a horrible, abusive relationship...no I don't regret it. I wouldn't have learned what I learned from men. He wasn't my first bad choice in relationships but he was my last. It took that marriage to teach me how I *should* be treated in a relationship. I have done some pretty bad things, I have had bad things done to me. I have lost loved ones. I have had a lot of friendships dissolve over the years. I have held in kissing boys I wanted to and kissed ones I didn't want too, lol. Yeah I have had my share of bad choices, mistakes, and poor behavior...
I'm far from perfect, my life life isn't perfect...but it's whats made me the person that I am, and I hope to continue to grow and change until I die.
And i'm in no way knockin' anyone who wants to go back, has regrets, or wants to imagine the "what ifs," it's just not for me.

I would go back to high school and apply myself more to my studies. I had NO problem being outgoing and making friends....books were second to hair, make-up and the latest Duran Duran concert!!!! (yes, people, I AM a child of the '80's!!!)

EDIT: You say its '80's!!??!! You simply MUST give more details!!!!! I will bet I can figure it out!!!

I do sometimes think about things like this. Not as much as I used to, though. I try to move foward and not look back.
I totally know where you are coming from, though.
If I could go back... oh gosh... there are so many things I would do. I would spend more time with my grandparents. I would learn more about them from their past to their present. The have long passed away. So I do feel guilty about not wanting to be closer to them when I was younger.

I also think about that I would have chosen a different path in college. I would have been bold to be a doctor or something life changing (not to mention something that would make money).

I would have focused more on beginning a career than marrying at 20 and having no career. However, I am pretty content raising my three children. I don't think life could get any better :)

Wouldn't change a thing, even though a lot of it was terrible, because each individual act led me to where I am today, and I love today.

Do you remember anything about the song at all? I'm pretty good at helping people figure out random songs... :)

Oh boy I know exactly where I would go...back to New Year's day 1996, when I started dating my oldest son's birth father. What a waste of time, money, heartache, etc. I wish I had just run in the other direction when we met and focused my energies on all of the great guys who were around me at school. The second point of no return was labor day weekend 2001 when DH and I went from friends to more than friends. We were much better suited as friends!

i love it. i totally get the spirit you are asking this question. i won't give you some bs about how my life is perfect and i would never change a thing because i have no regrets. those people must never have ever been too busy to be kind, or snidely made a rude comment that was accidentally overheard- dang they must be just about stinking perfect! for my imperfect self, yes, it would be nice to undo some bad decisions. mostly i wish i had been smarter about men - i was so scared to get hurt i was a VERY late bloomer - and i missed out on a lot. then there's the whole college credit card fiasco. lol. of COURSE i wouldn't wish away my kids (do people really feel the need to put that in writing??) but YES, like EVERYone, i am not perfect and if i knew now what i didn't know then...! it's fun to imagine 'what if!'

If i had the chance to go back in time i would go back to high school and actually try and do good and not be so shy. i would keep on going with my education and not get married so young. I would go back and try to work things out with this guy that i really loved, we never had the chance to be together because my parents wouldnt allow it. I would go back and just do things so much differently.

I would change my high school years...the things I did and didnt do...I would have stayed living with my mom instead of leaving at 17...I regret so much about my past from about 10 and up really...but I am who I am and there is NO going back so all I can do is live and learn. I am happy with who I am today and being blessed with my 3 children. But yes if only we could go back and redo those certain times...it would be nice.

I have so many regrets :/ I was one of the kids that always test off the charts, but just never gets it together in school on a day to day basis. Turns out, I'm ADD and medication makes a huge difference for me. If my parents and pediatrician could have tried to find out what's wrong rather than just thinking I am "day dreamy", school would have been so much better for me but I wasn't diagnosed till I was 17. But at 8, I couldn't explain the way my mind worked well enough to TELL them what was wrong. I'd go back to then, when I really began struggling and just not quit trying to make them listen until they finally did.

Some of these are contingent on "If I knew then what I know now," but if I could go back in time:

I would stand up more to my stepdad and I wouldn't let my mom off the hook so much
I would make better decisions where boys are concerned
I would learn to play an instrument (everybody in my family except me plays something)
I would say "Yes!" when my dad and stepmom offer to take me to the Bahamas with them (WHY did I say no to that?!?)
I would apply for more college scholarships and borrow only what I need
I would pay better attention to what benefits are offered by a company before I accept a job with them, and start planning earlier for retirement

That's all I can think of at the moment. Great post!

I never wish to go back in time.
Nor regret anything.

I am, as I am now.
I do not like reruns or going back to live the back then days.
I been there, done that.
I loathe, reliving things I already did.