If you could turn back the clock and change one decision, have

[one_voice]

one do-over, what would it be?

For me it would be to finish my degree in nursing.

[Richardo]

1. Taking on the stoners by dissing 420 in GD

Mellow, my ass! :scared:

[Bunny]

2. You'd better watch, Richardo, they're coming to get you!

Just as soon as they finish that bag of Doritos. :D

[Richardo]

7. !!

:rofl:

[old mark]

52. Having stoners coming after you is like being chased by those

slow moving mummies in the old Boris Karloff movies...
they move like molasses and smell funny.

m

[Blue-Jay]

53. They've probably already forgotten about it.

[MrCoffee]

3. I never would have smoked that first cigarette

[BethCA66]

5. Hear! Hear! n/t

[one_voice]

6. Oh that's a good one..

Even though I only smoke about 2 packs a week, I wish I could give them up totally.

[Blue Diadem]

10. Good one! Me too. n/t

[seabeyond]

15. mine. nt

[Old Troop]

23. So true!!!

[sarge43]

59. Yes indeed. That was my dumbest decision. n/t

[elocs]

4. The trouble with this is that we always assume the change would make things better

when in reality it might make things far worse than they turned out to be.

When my goddaughter was 10 she let her dog out of the house to go for a walk, but she didn't have the leash on him yet. He took off down the sidewalk in the direction of the park, except this was late on a Friday afternoon in a Chicago suburb towards a very busy street. Before he got to the intersection he stopped and looked back at my goddaughter and she instinctively ran toward him to stop him. He most likely took this action by her as an ok to keep going to the park. He ran into the street and the car never even bothered to stop. The next one did, allowing her to pick up his broken body and carry it home.

If she lives to be 90 and can no longer remember her own name she likely still will remember how her little dog got killed when she was 10 years old.

Shortly after that I took her to see the remake of "The Time Machine" to see how the guy kept going back in time to save his fiancee's life, but each time no matter what he did she would still die and he had to see it happen over and over. My goddaughter took that to mean that maybe it was just Skip's day to die and it would happen someway or another.

My do-over would be that it had never happened at all.

[Richardo]

8. Nice post.

You and your goddaughter are good for each other it seems.

[Crystal Clarity]

61. Your goddaughter is lucky to have you

That was a smart way to help her deal with the trauma.

[av8rdave]

9. I should have AUCTIONED those Honolulu - Oakland tickets I had on World Airways

in 85 during the United strike. I had a ride back on a military flight.

[Richardo]

11. I bet I know what THIS guy's answer would be....

http://failblog.org/2010/04/20/epic-fail-videocaravan-fail/

[raccoon]

12. Over the years, I have regretted leaving a job I had about 20 years ago.

Not very good pay, but good benes. Left it to do contract work. Big mistake.

I try to view it as poster says in #4, that I don't know that my life would necessarily have turned out better if I had stayed in that job.

[blueamy66]

13. walk on at ASU

womens basketball

[Deep13]

14. I would have lived with my father instead of my mother when I was a kid.

I would like to say I would not have gone to law school, but that's the only reason I met Sweetie. Perhaps if I went to grad school in Cleveland rather than law school.

[iris27]

16. Listened to my mother when she tried to tell me that my sister

was a pathological liar...and NEVER let my sister move in with me.

[dembotoz]

17. made a couple of bad ones

picked the wrong woman...

sometimes more bothered by the thing i should have done more than the thing i did do.

Omission over commission

[Tikki]

18. Problem is..if you change that one decision...

It could, ultimately, effect the good decisions you've made and then your future..


Tikki

[unpossibles]

19. agreed

We are all products of the "good" and "bad" things in our lives, and frankly more than once something "bad" has lead me to "good" moments and vice versa.

There are some things I'd be tempted to change, but I'm not sure I would or should, or where/who I'd be right now if I did. Who knows if the most horrible moment in my life had not in some ways saved my life?

[Rhythm]

69. Yeah, the whole 'butterfly effect' thing really can have those kind of repercussions

Seemingly unimportant decisions in life literally did put you where you are now, and different ones could have you places you never would have wanted.

[Auggie]

20. Marriage #1

[Rambis]

21. I would have gone to the Chicago show at soldiers field

I gave my tickets away because my wife and I were going to do the entire fall 1995 East coast tour as a honeymoon present. I wanted to avoid the whole 30th anniversary nightmare (which it was according to all my friends that went) but I did not heed my own advice which was you never know when the last show is gonna be.

[tango-tee]

22. More than anything else I regret returning to Germany.

I thought my family "needed" me. Turns out they didn't need me then and only need me now for financial purposes.

It's a case of "if only". If only I had listened to my head instead of my unreliable gut.

[owlsayswoot]

24. School

I'd have paid more attention in high school, and hung out with different people...not that I really want to do it over again, but I really should have taken advantage of the opportunities I had.

[Pool Hall Ace]

25. I would not have gotten married.

I decided when I was a kid that I wouldn't marry. But then, when I was 42-years-old, I thought I had found Mr. Right. Instead, I found Mr. Oh-My-God-I-Couldn't-Have-Been-More-Wrong. I never felt this intensely lonely when I was single!

It will take years to undo this damage. Some days, I barely have the will to live.

[klm55500]

26. attending a better college

[Tuesday Afternoon]

27. I would never have left Alabama.

[BlueIris]

38. You're a very unusual person, TA. nt

[quakerboy]

28. Its hard

Most of the Initial thoughts are easily discarded. I made the wrong choices with women at first. But without those choices, I never would have had the boldness to attempt to get to know my wife. Without the expensive school debt that I am anchored by, I would not have become the person I am. Etc. And the secondary thoughts are mainly too small to be worth reversing.

There I can think of only one thing that was an irrevocable mistake with no redeeming quality that I can discern. I don't care to mention it, but I would choose that.

[Odin2005]

29. Slacked off less in high school.

[Robeson]

30. To stop the Munich Agreement.

[BuelahWitch]

31. Would have gone to college right after high school

and stayed in W. PA or E. OH instead of moving to Utah. :-(

[keroro gunsou]

32. only one?

i've got two

1 - would have played football in high school

2 - waited at least a year before going to college.

dunno if the first one would have helped me much, but the second one would definately help me avoid the clusterfuck my life is now.

[Iggo]

33. I would've taken lessons. (n/t)

[Manifestor_of_Light]

34. Majored in Art instead of Biology.

Just been a hardcore painter with a BFA. Never made a dime from the biology degree. Parental pressure said I had to get a science degree, those other degrees wouldn't get me a job. Ha!

Skipped law school entirely. Or at least not expected it to help me get a job. Like having the knowledge but the time and the horrible stress were not fun.

I majored in stuff I was told to, NOT what I really enjoyed doing. Massive amounts of stress from that. And not good for job prospects either.

But hey you can call me Doctor and kiss my feet.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

35. I would have stayed in university and done honors and post-grad

[laylah]

36. I would have never

left Colorado and moved to Illinois.

[BlueIris]

37. I would have run, pell mell, from that sociopath I met in 10th grade.

Before I flushed seven years of my life down the toilet with that "relationship."

[raccoon]

39. "For of all sad words of tongue or pen,

The saddest are these: "It might have been!"

----John Greenleaf Whittier

[PassingFair]

40. Stayed in college.

Dropping out was a big mistake.

But I had bills to pay and DRAMA! to attend to.

[CTyankee]

41. I used to bemoan the same thing. However, I don't think that way now.

I started a family which I might not have, had I stayed in school. And I love my great kids and grand kids.

Also, I went back to school much later and finished the degree. It was a great experience. One of my proudest accomplishments was facing down my fear of algebra, which I had had since I first encountered it at the age of 14. I beat back my fear and learned enough of it to wind up making an A in College Math.

[guitar man]

42. I should have never sold this

Not a day goes by that I don't wish I had it back :(

[WinterParkDonkey]

43. Only one real one....

I was offered tow jobs -- yes there was a time when things like that happened -- one was at the Morse Museum in Winter Park and the other was for a fastner company also in Winter Park (Florida). They were for about the same amount of money and benefits. They were also basically for the same job -- as 'marketing' coordinator. Anyway, I picked the one at the museum. the man at the fastner company even called my husband at work to see what he could do to make me come to work for him. Jokingly, my husband said 'you know, a new car would be great' -- folks he was only kidding but the guy said, he might be able to lease one. Anyway, I went to work at the Morse Museum. Six months later they laid me off -- lack of funding. It was a nightmare to work there.

[sarge43]

44. I wish I had majored in history rather than English Lit. n/t

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

56. Delete

[WinkyDink]

80. I posted below about being an actress, but realistically, THIS is my exact same wish, to the letter.

I mean, I did very well in Brit Lit, but I always, as a kid on, read histories for leisure. So I planned to teach history! But my astute guidance counselor told me to look around; the history teachers were men who coached.

On to unintended Plan B.

[Blue_Tires]

45. different college, different major, different career

[JTG of the PRB]

46. I don't know if I could or even would change anything.

Not because I don't want to, but because I don;t see what good it would bring. There's no single decision that's led me to this point in my life - it';s thousands of little decisions that, when put together, create a web so intricate that one little change isn't going to affect the entire thing.

I guess if I had to choose one thing, it would have been to go to the University of Colorado - the school I graduated from after attending two different colleges in the previous two years - from the very beginning, to stay close to home, and to be roommates with one of my best friends. Life would be a little different, but I'd probably still be in the same place.

[TheOther95Percent]

47. Getting married.

My wallet and I both regret that decision.

[csziggy]

48. I would take the temporary job with no time off or benefits

It was the only job I was offered when I graduated from college - AFTER I had gotten married, made an offer on this farm and planned a month long trip to the West Coast. I could have handled the closing on the property, waited a year (the job was for ten months) for the trip, but I was impatient.

Instead I started a horse breeding business and my husband started a head shop. While both were reasonably successful, eventually the state passed the anti-paraphernalia law. We joined the class action suit against it but about the same time Ronald Reagan pushed through his tax agenda which made it much harder to get tax advantages from agricultural businesses and the IRS was auditing a LOT of horse operations in particular.

We took a hard look at the businesses and the conclusion was we would do better to shut them down. The five years of hard work we had put in building them was essentially wasted. I did begin a new business on the farm, boarding horses, and kept a small breeding operation as a side business. And the farm has been the best investment I ever made - even with real estate prices down, it is easily worth ten times what I have put into it.

But the job would have been a good career opener. It was the first book cataloging position at the university library with direct computer access to the Library of Congress computer catalog. Pretty spiffy stuff in 1977. It almost certainly would have lead to a permanent position and a chance a big advancements in my career. But I had no experience with computers and did not realize I actually have a talent for them, so I had no clue that it could have been a job I would have been happy with.

Instead, I spent the last thirty years getting beat up by my horses and working way harder than my body was designed for. Now I am not physically capable of doing the work I have loved for thirty years and at 57 in the middle of this recession I am am not likely to be able to break into another career.

[BlooInBloo]

49. Leaving the (first) love of my life.

[Bucky]

50. I didn't like what I picked out for lunch yesterday. I wish I'd made a sandwich & brought it to work

This tragic miscalculation on my part has irrevocably altered the course of my existence.

Oh, if I could only go back and do it right!

[Forkboy]

51. Getting help for being bipolar before my wife left instead of after.

Other than that, not much. I'm not a look back type of guy. What is is what is, and I deal with that instead of what could have, should have, or would have been. Hell, dealing with what is takes all my energy as it is. :)

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

54. I would have told my husband to slow down

It was on the tip of my tongue too when we had our accident.

[fizzgig]

55. ...

:hug:

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

58. .

:hug:

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

57. Clicked on this thread....

I'm going to be fucking depressed the rest of the day!

[REP]

60. Made a much larger investment than I did

[Darth_Kitten]

62. Run off to Europe at 20.

I should have done that. Wasn't thinking about that at the time, but what an escape that would have been.

:)

[GirlAfire]

63. I Would Have Never...

...sat down in that chair in class, creating a bond between my ex and me. Such a reversal of that decision might have saved me three years of heartache and over $7k of debt.

[Digit]

64. I would never have moved to North Carolina

Worst decision ever.

[dana_b]

65. to not have attempted to move that exercise bicycle

that caused 2 disc herniations in my back. I would be able to work as a bedside nurse again and not be in the precarious employment situation that I am now.

[Skittles]

66. I would have married Joe back in 1978

[PaddyBlueEyes]

67. I know and she knows..........

at least for her, things seem to be going her way. New Man, New House and New Life. She deserves happiness..

[ashling]

68. I assume you mean a do over which would

leave all of the acceptable to good things alone?

I often think of things I wish I had done differently, but they usually would put me in a different place and I Probably wouldn't have met and married the person who has stood with me for the last 30 years and is my best friend, companion, lover, comfort, etc.

so,

NO

However, if you mean that do I wish that I had in my life the things - jobs, friends, places, etc.- that that "change" would have resulted in
AND
I would be able to (see above past 30 years)

Sure

[hayu_lol]

70. Turning the clock way way back...

would have left the apple on the tree and eaten the snake.

[raccoon]

71. I would've been born in a blue area. nt

[nuxvomica]

72. I would've made that phone call on December 4, 1983

Damn, that was an easy question.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

73. Taken the jobs overseas that I was offered during the 1980s

Japan, Norway, Australia.

(Kicks self once around the world)

[Art_from_Ark]

74. I would have tried to be more congenial from elementary school on

I had a habit of saying and doing things that I regretted later.

[nickinSTL]

75. hard to say...

I know what result I wanted...but I don't know if there's one decision, one point in time that changing would have produced the result.

So...do I get to try and then get do-overs if it didn't work :shrug:

[mcctatas]

76. testing the temperature of my curling iron with my tongue...

because even if you believe that you can't change any event in your past without changing everything from that point forward, I really don't see how that could change much :P

[Haole Girl]

77. I would have never gotten involved with an alcoholic in my 20's. nt

[bigwillq]

78. Come of the proverbial closet sooner

I am still not "out" to everyone, but when I did "come out" it was the best decision I have ever made. Totally changed my life. Such a freeing experience.

[WinkyDink]

79. Become an actress instead of a teacher.