If there was one thing you could take back in your life, what would it be?

I would have saved more money when I knew I could have, instead of wasting it on eating out 5 days a week.

I would have purchased my first house in 1999 rather than 2002. That 3-year difference = at least a $100k loss. Around here, the difference between those who are doing ok and those that are struggling is strictly down the before/after 1999 line.

Nothing. My life’s experiences have led me to become the person that I am.

I would have fought harder to stay with my ex-husband longer. I could then have received his Social Security.
(yep, call me all the names you want, but…..I am pretty much fucked when it comes to old age)

I would have been there when my gma passed, I’ve regretted that for a long time.

A dear friendship I ruined with my words and actions. :(

I would have gotten married when I did but would have stayed in school instead of using marriage as an excuse to drop out . I did marry too young probably but I couldn’t help myself at the time. Even though I eventually returned to several schools to take more courses I continued dropping out after my finals.

Smoking.
Been fighting this battle for years, sometimes I win, sometimes it wins.
Nicotine is the mother of all addictions.
Ironically I was the kid that protested the loudest at age 14 when my friends were sneaking cigarettes, now, I am the only one that sill lights up.

So not fair… as Mark Twain once said ” quitting smoking is easy, I have done it hundreds of times.” It’s the staying quit that’s a killer.
Of course I smoke “organic” tobacco….at least I am not getting the other 5000 chemicals, for what that’s worth. Not much. haha

My degree. I would have gotten into emergency medicine sooner and would have been a flight medic by now. Being 12 years behind on discovering my passion most likely means I will never hit the flight medic status.

I’m in the same boat as @Cruiser, a friendship I ruined, a person I hurt. However, I think it’d be best if I could take it back, but maintain the current status quo. I have a bad habit of hurting people I try to let in close to my heart.

How does one choose that when there are at least 3–4 things I could take back that would have changed the course of life significantly.

I will also go with smoking. I am fairly certain that it will be the cause of my early death.

@johnpowell @Coloma My vaca is coming up soon and I’m going to use the e-cigs and stop (while I’m away from my job.) I’ll let you know how it goes, i really don’t want to die gasping for air like my gpa (a spot on his lung, he’d quit 20 yrs before at age 60.)

I would have not let the one that got away get away.

@KNOWITALL I hear ya, I have used the E-cig, hypnosis ( that worked for about 13 months ) but when extreme stress comes up….it’s all over.
I care and I don’t care anymore. haha
Thing is, sure, you could get COPD, Lung Cancer, heat disease, but there are a lot of other bizarre risks, like bladder cancer,rheumatoid arthritis, degenerative disc disease…it really sucks. How I rue the day I let my friends give me my first cigarette.

PSA: To all the smokers…I was there and quite 3 hundred and 50 million times until I did this….
Deep breathing. It starts by you standing up (near a sink or pail) and inhale as deep as you can…then with control…exhale and exhale all the contents of your lungs and push even harder…(this is where a puff of smoke always comes out no matter how long ago you had your last ciggy) Repeat 9 more times. This should take about 3–5 minutes and at the very least it is long enough to get you past the urge to light up and if done right….at the worst you will be puking your guts out and never want to smoke ever again. The trick is to be aware of the more you do this the better you feel and the more you might think you can sneak in a ciggy…so have other oral fixation items like Blow Pops and hard candy to substitute for sucking on your thumb. The key for me was this deep breathing…do it every time you get an urge and it will be a very harsh reminder at just how badly you F’d up your lungs.

I have not had a smoke in 17 years and know I will never ever have one again from doing the above.

I would have been specific with the doctors NOT to feed her intravenously. I knew she was sensitive to drugs, and her being fed intravenously resulted in her getting Mersa and ARDS, which resulted in her death.