Chazmo

I try to live my life with a no-regrets policy. I don't lie, cheat, or steal, and I tend to expect people to treat me the same way. I find the situation a little less black and white with my own family, though I try to steer the right course most of the time. It's not always easy.

Of course, life is a journey, and we're not always at our best. In my years of bachelorhood, I remember making my share of mistakes . I would guess that we all have a memory or two about how we've treated a lover or even a friend that makes us cringe. Perhaps these count as regrets, but I tend to cut myself a lot of slack in this area; the heart is not inclined to make rational choices.

I can think of a few choices over the years where I'd really like to know how things would've turned out if I'd acted differently. These really aren't regrets, though; they're just curiosity, and I wouldn't honestly wish to make those changes.

All I can come up with is that I regret that I didn't push myself to work harder and delve deeper into the sciences that I studied back in school. It's conceivable that I could have had an impact on human knowledge as a Physicist, Mathematician, or even a Philosopher. My science teachers told me that I should apply myself in these areas, but I really got a kick out of programming computers, and that's the path I followed.

What about you?

Kyras

Hmm. Off the top of my head, I can't think of anything. I wish I had tried hang gliding when I was in my twenties though. I had signed up for the class in San Diego, and then remembered I owed my dad money he lent me when I moved out, so I cancelled the class, paid him back, and never did try it.

Smokee

Wish I'd joined the marching band rather than the sports teams in high school. All the jocks are fat and arthritic now but the marching band folks are still making music.

LittlePenguin

Life IS a journey, and the journey we take depends on the choices we make throughout our lives. To reflect on what we should have done is to say we're not happy with our current lives.

Actually I'm pretty happy with where I am now. If I had made different choices, perhaps I wouldn't have the 3 wondeful sons I have, perhaps I wouldn't be in the profession I am in, or even perhaps I wouldn't be driving my neat little yellow car.

So no regrets! But I do have a wish list: more money (must be my time to win the lottery), get up to 200km/hr (only done 185 so far), look after my about to be borne grandchildren.

Oops, one regret. I regret that I didn't write my name in the snow when I had the chance.

ralper

I'd like to think I'd have made some different choices, but I thought the choices I made were right when I made them, and I'd probably make them again given the same circumstances. Still, like you I wonder what would've been had I taken a different career path. Who knows? I might be better off, I might be worse off.

Still, I wish I'd bought 1,000 shares of Microsoft in 1986, or 1,000 acres of farm land here in Northern New Jersey.

DiamondDave2005

I wish I'd taken my own advice back in '94 (or thereabouts) when I told my cousin to invest at least $10,000 of his $165,000 insurance settlement in AOL shares.

Of course, he didn't follow my advice either, and I must admit to feeling a little schadenfreude when I figured out how much it would have been worth before the bubble burst.

Ulrich

When I went to grad school, the university was offering a combined MBA/JD program -- and I did not even consider it at the time. Not that I'd want to be a lawyer, but I think that extra year would have been worth it... Oh well.

MsPerky

If I could do one thing over, I would have strongly advised my mother against having back surgery. Her living with pain every day as a result is the one dark spot in my life.

As for myself, I can't really think of anything offhand. I don't contemplate the past too much. Like LittlePenguin, I'm pretty happy with where I am now.

Traveler

Sorry to rub it in, but you absolutely made the wrong decision. I still pull out the old horn and get together with old band buddies.

My regrets:

In fifth or sixth grade I was offered the chance to transfer to the honors school. I turned it down because I thought it would be stupid to volunteer to work harder at school.

There's someone I should have proposed to while I had the chance.

Then there are the career regrets:

1985: "Why would anyone want a job working on MS/DOS all day?" (My reaction when a coworker went to MS as a development manager.)

1993: "It's just a text formatter. What's the big deal?" (My reaction to seeing the Mosaic web browser for the first time.)

2000: "I'd rather wait and take my profits next year" (My plans on when to dispose of my shares in my dot-com employer.)

Judging by the intervals I think I'll be making a really bad career move in '07 or '08.

dean

The grass is always greener...
I sometimes wish that I had studied something a bit more practical like computers. Although, I can't imagine myself myself doing anything other than I've done. My occupation fits me like a comfortable old pair of jeans.
I'm also interested in Philosophy and even went so far as to get accepted into a Humanities Ph.D. program last winter. I turned down the offer in the end because of other commitments which I now regret, but I'll probably reapply again next summer. I'm not looking to change career paths. I've just always been fascinated by Epistemology, and now have the time to pursue that interest. That's one of the advantages of being vintage I suppose.