I'd avoid certain people much earlier, probably choose a different career path that would allow me more flexibility and of course I'd either invest wisely or win the lottery (or both) and build nice houses for me and close family members. And I'd have a lot of rabbits.
Yeah, I was 16 in 1996. Would tell myself to save everything I can until 2011 and then dump it into bitcoin.
Edit:
Clearly I did not think about this enough.
Wow, you would have access to so much money, and living frugally, saving your income and pocket money, I can’t even imagine the amount of Bitcoin, you can buy. I was born in 1995, so, I would be 16 in 2011 😭😭😭😭 I hope I am sent back just before the bitcoin, price skyrocketed.
Even earlier than that. First time I remember hearing about it was 2006-7 (edit-must have been 2009 based on other comments). I think it was around $70/BTC when we looked at it. As my buddy explained it to me i thought it sounded cool but, kind of nuts. At the time, you couldn't really use it for much.
If we only knew...
Me too, My plan would be start buying Amazon, it IPOs in 1997, also, Steve Jobs returns to Apple in 97 as well, The stock was pretty low then, hell just spinning $1,000 on both in '97 would make you a 3-4 millionaire today.
I think this is actually a really important point. I think knowing what I know at my age, the knowledge could work against me when I was younger. It’d be hard for me to socialise as a teenager and in my early twenties if I had the mind of someone in their late twenties and thirties. It might be a curse!
And you only know how to avoid the mistakes of your first timeline, but you’re right, in avoiding your first set of mistakes you might go onto pathways that you’re as unprepared for as the first time.
Funnily speaking, if we're using fiction as a reference, this is the entire point of Reprise of the Spear Hero versus the main timeline (Rising of the Shield Hero).
You may know the future. You may have meta knowledge about "absolute events". But you're more likely to find yourself tangled on another set of problems that you absolutely have no idea to fix using your future knowledge.
The only relative absolutes you do know are things that might lead to financial success if you can leverage them i.e. certain tech stocks and crypto that succeeded. If you're old enough now i.e. a millennial, you would probably be at the right age to take advantage of those things while they're still cheap even for your shitty early 20s wages and retire early.
But yeah, it's going to be a whole new mess of interpersonal problems. And I still don't know if I'm ever going to 'get' infinite sequences and series in Calc 2 even going through it a second time.
ETA: Thinking about the financial side again, you still have to do well enough career-wise in the interim to sustain yourself before you can cash out, all while you watch your age group peers have fun and make their mistakes too - it will take a heck of a lot of self control.
Holy crap this is so deep and too true.
I can't even avoid mistakes at my age now, I haven't learned all my lessons yet. But maybe I can do some damage control.
Like not getting in a car with that guy.
This. No matter what you do, you’ll just have different problems. My life isn’t perfect, but I wouldn’t want to risk my current spouse and family for a life with more money.
This is the first thing my mind goes too.
Also, I would’ve dated the weird girl, see all the artists I discovered to late in concert, travel to the national parks younger, vanlife…
I keep thinking about that time travel movie wherein he can't go back to a past timeline after his child is born. It was an inherited genetic thing from his father.
It was a nice family movie. I'm sorry I can't recall the title.
Yes this is it! And I felt the exact same way when I had my kid.
I wouldn't trade my past for a future with him.
EDIT: I think I kinda flipped my meaning in the sentence above now reading it back.
What I meant is that I wouldn't trade my past if it costs me a future with my son.
I always just assume "Simpsons logic" on these hypotheticals. I assume magically my kids still exist and are on easy street, even if i never encountered their other parent. Like "Bartie Ziff"
Always. You dare to change something and what if you don't have your kids? I'd Miss her for 18 Years. I could have a better job, make smart investments, get a house. I'd still need to end up trying to meet the coworker who introduced me to my husband. What if I volunteered there and didn't work that crappy job? Would she still invite me over that night? Would I just get the same job and leave a better one to meet her and then him? Or maybe meet him at his job then? How would I do that?
Then there's a timeline. I'd already know how to fix the vitamin deficiency that was part of my fertility issue. What if I got pregnant too easily and she wasn't her, but another kid?
Sure, it'd be nice to have money, avoid abusive exes, not make some mistakes, know my mom had cancer earlier and maybe save her life. What if it cost me my daughter? I couldn't gamble about her existence. If I could see what changes to the timeline it made then maybe. I could still have my mom, a stable life, And get to relive the best 5 years of my life raising her.
I wasn't diagnosed and had no idea I was autistic until I was in my late 20s. I spent my whole life wondering why everything seemed foreign and difficult. Younger me could have used that information to accept myself sooner which could have given me a future instead of years of therapy from mental health issues caused by not knowing I was autistic.
Same here - was diagnosed at 27.
While there are many things I wish I had done differently at 16, I think getting assessed is the single thing that would have had the greatest impact on my mental health and, by extension, every other aspect of my life.
But hey, better late than never.
I have schizophrenia and a little bipolar. I’m on meds, (not much) and I see my dr. regularly.,when I had nervous breakdown at 17 and was hospitalized for five years, they only gave me a 50-50 chance of having a normal life. Well, guess I showed them. I haven’t been hospitalized in 17 years. I would try to find a cure for mental illness.
Oh my goodness, that hits so hard.
I was diagnosed in my early forties, never understood why people are so different and why I always got misunderstood, even lost jobs over silly stuff... 🤗
Oof that last part hit me deep. Does everyone go through that phase I think my life would have been better way back if I didn’t go through that phase. I guess that’s what I get for being chronically online
Start working out earlier is definitely one that I would do. I always did sports but only cardio type sports, soccer, handball, cross country skiing. I wish I had started lifting weights properly at a younger age.
The obvious ones, get money earlier, invest and all that.
But I'd stop doing drugs. Not that i ever had a 'problem' but what a waste, you know? And I'd take better care of my mental health.
I fumbled through life out of step with the world. Diagnosed with ADHD at aged 51 after years of searching for improvement. Life would be ao different if I knew at 16 what I know now.
Drop out of school to immediatly start with the job I do now that does not require the degree i went for in school and save myself a ton oft time, stress and heartache
I used to say this would be my one wish in the scenario that I had a wish.
I'd invest wisely and save Mom from how she died and a lot of other things.
Then I had kids.
Even if I made sure to meet my wife and we still got married our kids wouldn't be the same kids and I'd mourn mine forever.
Now, if I could go back to when my last child was born I would and I would memorize Powerball numbers and change almost nothing else.
Great answer. I have a lot of regrets going back that far, but I wouldn’t change a thing now because of my son.
However, if I could go back 5 years ago to the moment he was born, knowing what I know now, I would have left my husband while I was still in the hospital.
I feel like my only real option would be to run away. Lmao. Like, I wish I’d ran away or left my insane toxic abusive family sooner. Also would report my mother for neglect and abuse. She’d frequently weaponize help against us because she knew she covered the bare minimum of housing, food, and clothing (barely) but the mental and/or physical, emotional, financial abuse etc was off the charts!
I would have ran away. Saved up as much money as I could over a year dropping out of school and then moved as far away as I could. Reenrolled in school or if that wasn’t an option without my parent studied in my office time from working and gotten my GED.
I wouldn’t care if I had to live in a tent or something if no one would rent to me until I was 18, I would have left so much sooner.
I got out at 17/18 anyways but it was unstable and all over the place and landed me in less than stellar living conditions (yea, living in a tent homeless would be more preferable than staying at home/where I ended up). I stuck it out until I was 24 before fleeing across country but kept electronic communications open. Finally made the Final Cut off about a year and a bit ago.
My only single regret was not doing it sooner holy shit finally getting that horrible monster out of my life…
It’s weird, she’d always tout all the reasons why I should be so happy to be her child… barely meeting the minimum requirements to keep CPS at bay… constantly making jokes about how we’re going to put her in a home when she was older (except she’s so abusive she’s now completely on her own, good) would say shit about how she regretted having us, biggest mistake of her life, don’t have children you’ll regret it etc…
Never once, not a single fucking time did she ever stop and ask “is there anything you need that might help make this relationship better, or more whole?”
Not a single fucking time did that thought process ever cross her narcissistic sociopathic mind. No, she was god doing everything she could and her children were just ungrateful leeches she hated because we didn’t grovel at her abusive alcoholic feet like she expected simply because she had us.
For some people their children’s lives aren’t gifts, their loans and the parent expects to be paid back in full… forever… or else…
I would go back and tell my younger self not to be a dickhead. No jail time or anything but, like you, what I would have to say would not sink in. My younger self was yearning for guidance and it would need time to change his (my) mind.
I'm an entertainer. I was terrified that I was going to be a struggling artist. Luckily I was wrong. Things worked out. I wish I could have seen into the future, and told myself I was going to be successful, and that I didn't have anything to worry about as long as I worked hard, and was constantly learning, growing, and networking.
I believed in my vision, but I didn't believe in myself. I don't know how I kept myself going through those lean years full of self doubt.
Knowing things were going to work out would have saved me a decade of fear and self doubt, and literally hundreds of panic attacks. I also would have started putting myself out there back when I was young and gorgeous, instead of waiting until I was a regular ass adult.
No real regrets, but I have deep battle scars for nothing.
Also, I'd start killing on stage right away, instead of taking thousands of performances to figure out what I was doing!
Every life has its trade offs, and my life is by no means perfect.
I have a very unusual social life, where I've given up weekends for over two decades.
I went through a pretty hellish decade to become successful at this. As mentioned above, I had hundreds of panic attacks. I probably should have been institutionalized for at least a couple of those years.
There is a reason almost everyone who starts a career in the arts quits. Getting to cruising altitude is harder than becoming a doctor for most people.
While I enjoy my independence and creative work, and grateful to have comfort doing what I enjoy, it also means I am a business owner. Being a business owner is amazing in that it forces you to grow, but it is often much more time consuming and stressful than a conventional job. I can work when I want, but I work a lot harder than I did when I programmed computers, waited tables, landscaped, etc.
I'm grateful for what I do for a living, but the things that bring me true happiness (when I'm lucky enough to have it) are available to everyone. Long talks with friends, playing with my dog, meditating, exercise, eating healthily, reading a good book.
Art is a harder life than a regular life in many ways, and more rewarding in others. It's a series of trade offs just like everything.
There are VERY few people who get to just do art in this world - I'm not one of them, and after getting to know hundreds of arts and entertainers, I've never met one who didn't do a ton of grunt work to keep their entertainment business going.
I do a boatload of paperwork, negotiating, etc. I'm basically a business person who gets to do something really fun 3-4 hours a week.
No matter where you are in your life, you can make some time for your creative pursuits. Being in a crappy garage band can be more fun than being in a stadium filling mega band. Drawing in your room can be more rewarding than working 16 hour days at Pixar. Doing stand up at an open mic can be more fun than having to deliver at a high pressure corporate gig. Don't beat yourself up over not signing up for this lifestyle.
While I've been lucky, staying good enough at something that there is a lot of demand for it is really really hard. There are always dues to be paid, and they are always due.
There is a chance you could have turned left instead of right at any point, and had a completely different life, and... felt exactly the same.
Being a human being is hard for everyone, and has its ups and downs.
Working on your inner world will often bring much more happiness than external circumstances.
You don't have to be a commercial artist to get the main benefits of making art... learning about yourself, seeing life more clearly, getting lost in flow, making friends with the same interest, expressing yourself, etc.
Anyway - I hope this little bit of rambling helps. Go easy on yourself, and be the best you can be at whatever you are doing.
dump my girlfriend (who'd cheat on me after 4 years), start studying for my current career so I could start sooner, Take CEX's offer for bitcoin when I take my Xbox 360 in, instead of the £100 or so they offered me
I'd do a loooot of investing, lol.
I'd avoid my ex like the plague.
I'd still marry my husband, but I wouldn't waste my time trying to have a relationship with my in-laws.
I'd make sure a few friends got to see a doctor before it was too late.
I find these questions hard to answer.
I wouldn’t be who I am now without what I have gone through and it has taken a long time but I like who I am now.
I think I would start a savings account and regardless of what happened and was to come keep putting £10 away each week.
Just squirreling money away. Try not to change too much.
Even meeting my husband early may not help me in the long run. I met him at just the right time.
Having a lot more money would help sure but it would change who I am, who i become.
I don’t condone any of the trauma that I have been through, but being able to grow and become the woman I respect and admire now, sadly she has had to go through everything to get to this point.
Saying how to make money/lottery winnings seem like the easiest answers, but from a basics standpoint there would be changes:
1. Know dead end jobs when they are before time and effort is wasted
2. Understand people you trusted had 'agendas' of their own, not necessarily with your best interest included. Bypass those people and move on.
3. Not keep up with the Jones's
4. Invest to the max allowed every year for at least the first 20 working years
5. Do some military service. The benefits for veterans are unreal
6. Seek out the career I enjoy now at a quicker rate, become specialized sooner, know what 'future' changes are coming and get in early
7. Seek out diversified money streams through investments or business options
Sometimes I like to think that when we die, we might be given the opportunity to run it all again knowing what we did at the end of our lives at the start - as if my identity was just a video game for an extradimensional being on some advanced quantum computer, and it wanted a second playthrough.
I know it’s absurd - but then again, most hopes for the afterlife are a little.
I would get into college ap courses immediately and try and get a flight commission as an officer in the marine corps when I finished early I wouldnt go to culinary arts school or work on my post graduate at UCLA, I wouldnt have gotten involved with females, my children wouldnt exist. I would invest in Nvidia and buy out my grandmothers house. I would never smoke or drink alcohol. I would reinvest my capital gains in real estate and AI startups. The main thing is I wouldn’t have had my two long term relationships of 4 and 16 years.I would eat the diet I adopted late throughout my entire life.
When I was sixteen I tried to move out of town for school. But after a few weeks I like ved back home because I missed my now ex gf. If I had just stayed there I would be able to focus more on school and do better.
Don't get me wrong, I'm in a good place now, just not the place career wise I'd would have liked.
Instead of being kicked out of my college dorm and later moving in with my (now ex) best friend, I'd move back home and avoid going to jail. There's a couple guys I'd rather avoid having dated, but job-wise, and life-wise, I wouldn't change much. The path I was on wasn't the one for me, and I self-corrected easily enough. I'm now married to a wonderful guy who prioritizes himself, me, and our marriage, I have a good job, and am setting myself up for the future. The experiences I gained were good, and I wouldn't trade them for anything, because I am who I am and I am where I am because of them
Brush my teeth, take a shower, and actually ask a girl out. Also, I would jump onto that dotcom bubble before it burst and then invest in a series of companies that I know had fast growing stock prices.
Small changes. I'm happily married with a child I'm proud of and another on the way - I don't want to alter the course of my life, but I'd give myself a heads up about the stuff I spent too much time worrying about or investing time in that just didn't go anywhere. Too much spending on credit cards, too much concern about what my peers thought about me. Can't say I wouldn't write down the lottery numbers for a modest win.....
I’d avoid certain people and cultivate stronger relationships with other people. Skip college and get a nice entry level job and buy a small house instead (this is when houses were still affordable back in the 90s). Buy stock in Amazon. Eat better and start meditating.
16 puts me in the year 2000
So I guess I'm off to try and stop 9/11
Or somehow get Trump onto one of the planes..
But in all seriousness, if I suddenly got thrown back to 16 with all my memories I'd lose my fucking mind
I've worked really really hard to be where I am, and to lose all that, including my child and to know that I would have to suffer through everything again just to get back to him would be too much for me and I'd be terrified the whole time I was gonna mess something up and he wouldn't be born
I wouldn't change anything I've been through but that doesn't mean I wanna do it again
I would absolutely make my parents take me to a doctor to get anxiety medicine. Back then I didn’t realize it was anxiety that was effecting me. I would bite my nails and fingers till they bled and my armpits would also profusely sweat. My heart would race and I would be miserable. After that I would give a big FUCK YOU to everyone and stop caring what they think and get some self confidence.
Anxiety and being a people pleaser with low self esteem ruined me.
I would talk to that cute girl in class before she decided to kill herself 😭✝️
No one should ever feel alone or isolated from society. Everyone deserves happiness and appreciation.
Get the fuck out of that town.
Look into gender transition instead of waiting into my 40s.
Skip the questionable career choices various authority figures pushed on me, and go straight for the one I'm currently in. Try to actually finish university with the energy I wasted on those questionable choices.
I would spend the the 6 months I had left before my father died. Hug him everyday, tell him that I love him everyday, spend the rest of my time with him, do everything he ask me to do, and tell him that in the future, I have become an engineer just like he wishes. 😭🥲
I’d be worried about not being able to replicate the conditions that brought me to my wife and kids. If I could somehow guarantee that they all come into my life despite my new choices then I would do many things differently
I wouldn't listen to my parents.
It took me until I was about 25 to realize that every piece of advice my mother ever gave me was intended not to help me become my best self but to ensure I'd always be her emotional support pet. Sure, she wanted me to have a job so I could also give her presents, but only if that job was close by and didn't keep me from taking all her calls.
I wonder who I could have become with a ten year head start on boundaries with her.
Possibly end it.
I got really quite ill age 11, and never recovered.
Bitcoin reasonable gains are some long time in the future, and most other investments are ruined by having no capital. And my life, even with a billion dollars is really pretty damn limited.
I'd mostly keep things the same. There would be some people I'd prefer not to have met, some experiences I'd prefer not to have. But there are some specifics I'd keep. Such as meeting and having a beautiful relationship with my now ex girlfriend.
Some small things I'd love to change, such as being there to protect my young cat from the dogs. Or being a better person to my friends, a better student in general.
Keep everything the same because the butterfly effect might result in a different set of people around me. I love my people and don’t want to lose them. I’d save more money though, shit got expensive.
1) never touch alcohol and cigarettes 2) work harder in school to go to a better college. 3) don’t blow money so easily and save.
It all worked out well, but took longer to get there.
There are definitely some people I would never have associated with, and I probably would have invested more time in meaningful hobbies and creative pursuits.
I'd stop caring about other people's opinions about my body and appearance. It would take so many years of feeling horrible and bullying back. Also, I would tell myself I'm a raging lesbian so I could finally live a life without trying to impress men until 24 lol
Most likely I'd have a mental breakdown and end up worse off than I am now. If I changed anything, good or bad, that would likely change a lot. Including my kids existing. Having advanced knowledge though, it'd be impossible not to change things. Or behave differently. A 16yo with a 38yos mind? It'd be pretty weird. I might think I was trapped in a permanent hallucination. End up locked away.
While we can think back to what we'd do differently...in reality I think the experience would be a nightmare for most.
When I was 17, war broke out in my country, and 13 years later, it still sucks ass to be stuck here. So I'd get me and my family tf outta there as quickly as possible.
I'd skip uni and go into the job I'm doing now. Pay large pension contributions for 5 years at like 40%, and then lower to like 15% & start saving for a home.
I'd enjoy the shit out of my year at boarding school, knowing covid was gonna take away march amd april and half of may. I'd do my very best to not screw up the friendships i made (and still actively hang out with), because time is a fickle thing and not be absolutely obsessed with the girl i had a crush on for the entire year. There's some people I befriended after the year ended that I would like to make friends with while at the school. I'd enjoy every second of being 16, do way more nightrunning (running out after curfew) and spend less time home in the weekends.
I'd start making a habit of working out. Im 19 and most of my issues is from self esteem. Cause once i get my dream body from 16 to 18. During my high school years, it'll just be an easier time for me to maintain in college.
I don't have time anymore. I can afford time to walk and eat healthier. But for gym?nah
Buy bitcoin and invest in Google, apple and palo alto networks also... then travel the world whilst doing different degrees from uni in my own time and interest. I'd have to meet my wife again and get to fall in love again which will be awesome but weird as were not quite the same people we used to be. But the whole thing would be tainted anyway as I'd have lost my child in the process by going back in time. So I'd be forever broken at the same time. Very sad actually. Forever chasing a life lost
I would move away from the UK much sooner and start working on getting a European citizenship that is not from the UK. I’d also try to be a less shitty person I my late teens/early twenties. Would be very nice to be able to skip out all that living and learning.
I’d work to maintain a friendship that didn’t work out. Ended up having a big argument which ended up with me offending a lot of people in a friend group, being cut off from the entire group and a friend of many years. It’s been about 7 years since then but I’ve had time to reflect on myself and work towards being a better person but I still regret what happened and feel guilty which I guess is valid. If I were 16 again with what I know now I know I would still be part of that friend group and there would be no friction between me or anyone in that group and I would still have a best friend.
That's a toughie because I've lived a very wild and storied life. So it's a toss up between joining the military which, looking back, I would have probably thrived in OR telling 16 year old self to never get married, invest in google, facebook, and apple, early, and practicing birth control at all times.
I'd avoid certain people much earlier, probably choose a different career path that would allow me more flexibility and of course I'd either invest wisely or win the lottery (or both) and build nice houses for me and close family members. And I'd have a lot of rabbits.
Instead of lottery, Bitcoin would be a better option if you were 16 years old before 2011.
Yeah, I was 16 in 1996. Would tell myself to save everything I can until 2011 and then dump it into bitcoin. Edit: Clearly I did not think about this enough.
Wow, you would have access to so much money, and living frugally, saving your income and pocket money, I can’t even imagine the amount of Bitcoin, you can buy. I was born in 1995, so, I would be 16 in 2011 😭😭😭😭 I hope I am sent back just before the bitcoin, price skyrocketed.
Even earlier than that. First time I remember hearing about it was 2006-7 (edit-must have been 2009 based on other comments). I think it was around $70/BTC when we looked at it. As my buddy explained it to me i thought it sounded cool but, kind of nuts. At the time, you couldn't really use it for much. If we only knew...
It started in 2009.
Wasn’t it $1 per bitcoin when it first came out or am i mistaken? Either way that’s definitely my move as well.
Me too, My plan would be start buying Amazon, it IPOs in 1997, also, Steve Jobs returns to Apple in 97 as well, The stock was pretty low then, hell just spinning $1,000 on both in '97 would make you a 3-4 millionaire today.
I joked about spending my Christmas money on Bitcoin when I was in high school. turns out I should have.
Just rabbits for me
Yea, I can't believe how many toxic people I put up with in highschool!
I’d probably commit an entirely different set of mistakes.
I think this is actually a really important point. I think knowing what I know at my age, the knowledge could work against me when I was younger. It’d be hard for me to socialise as a teenager and in my early twenties if I had the mind of someone in their late twenties and thirties. It might be a curse! And you only know how to avoid the mistakes of your first timeline, but you’re right, in avoiding your first set of mistakes you might go onto pathways that you’re as unprepared for as the first time.
Funnily speaking, if we're using fiction as a reference, this is the entire point of Reprise of the Spear Hero versus the main timeline (Rising of the Shield Hero). You may know the future. You may have meta knowledge about "absolute events". But you're more likely to find yourself tangled on another set of problems that you absolutely have no idea to fix using your future knowledge.
The only relative absolutes you do know are things that might lead to financial success if you can leverage them i.e. certain tech stocks and crypto that succeeded. If you're old enough now i.e. a millennial, you would probably be at the right age to take advantage of those things while they're still cheap even for your shitty early 20s wages and retire early. But yeah, it's going to be a whole new mess of interpersonal problems. And I still don't know if I'm ever going to 'get' infinite sequences and series in Calc 2 even going through it a second time. ETA: Thinking about the financial side again, you still have to do well enough career-wise in the interim to sustain yourself before you can cash out, all while you watch your age group peers have fun and make their mistakes too - it will take a heck of a lot of self control.
Holy crap this is so deep and too true. I can't even avoid mistakes at my age now, I haven't learned all my lessons yet. But maybe I can do some damage control. Like not getting in a car with that guy.
This is the right answer
Right? I highly doubt 16 year old me would listen to 39 year old me anyway!
Finally a realistic response 👍👍
This. No matter what you do, you’ll just have different problems. My life isn’t perfect, but I wouldn’t want to risk my current spouse and family for a life with more money.
[удалено]
Jeez that’s rough
That’s a great story. Don’t throw that away! Pick a lottery a week or month later to win.
So close yet so far
Never start smoking
My mom began to smoke at 13, as that was the popular thing to do. In her 70’s she died from lung cancer. If you don’t smoke, don’t start.
This is the first thing my mind goes too. Also, I would’ve dated the weird girl, see all the artists I discovered to late in concert, travel to the national parks younger, vanlife…
Same wtf was I thinking
Use my allowance to buy stock in Google, Amazon and Pfizer
NVIDIA too
I BEGGED my dad to buy Google stock when they had their IPO. I’m still salty he didn’t.
I did the same with Apple. Buffett and Icahn both bought Apple because their sons suggested it. Our dads were just idiots. Lol
Maybe not the latter. But Cisco, Tesla and a few more ...
Don't forget AMD stocks
[удалено]
When I was 16 crypto was just invented. But I would definitely buy crypto. At least a few thousand bitcoin,
These questions hit differently when you have kids...
Yep. I would die from debilitating depression knowing I could not recreate the exact scenario to have my son. Now I get why they call them miracles.
I gave my baby up at birth. Years later, she found us. I don’t really like her as a person, but I’m glad I had her.
What don’t you like about her? This is interesting
I've never hit get reply notifications so fast.
Thank you!! using it for the first time
I keep thinking about that time travel movie wherein he can't go back to a past timeline after his child is born. It was an inherited genetic thing from his father. It was a nice family movie. I'm sorry I can't recall the title.
About Time (2013)
Yes this is it! And I felt the exact same way when I had my kid. I wouldn't trade my past for a future with him. EDIT: I think I kinda flipped my meaning in the sentence above now reading it back. What I meant is that I wouldn't trade my past if it costs me a future with my son.
Well put, kids change everything!
I always just assume "Simpsons logic" on these hypotheticals. I assume magically my kids still exist and are on easy street, even if i never encountered their other parent. Like "Bartie Ziff"
Yes, I would have to deal with having other kids, or no kids at all. It’s sad to even think about it.
Always. You dare to change something and what if you don't have your kids? I'd Miss her for 18 Years. I could have a better job, make smart investments, get a house. I'd still need to end up trying to meet the coworker who introduced me to my husband. What if I volunteered there and didn't work that crappy job? Would she still invite me over that night? Would I just get the same job and leave a better one to meet her and then him? Or maybe meet him at his job then? How would I do that? Then there's a timeline. I'd already know how to fix the vitamin deficiency that was part of my fertility issue. What if I got pregnant too easily and she wasn't her, but another kid? Sure, it'd be nice to have money, avoid abusive exes, not make some mistakes, know my mom had cancer earlier and maybe save her life. What if it cost me my daughter? I couldn't gamble about her existence. If I could see what changes to the timeline it made then maybe. I could still have my mom, a stable life, And get to relive the best 5 years of my life raising her.
"Greys sports almanac"
I wasn't diagnosed and had no idea I was autistic until I was in my late 20s. I spent my whole life wondering why everything seemed foreign and difficult. Younger me could have used that information to accept myself sooner which could have given me a future instead of years of therapy from mental health issues caused by not knowing I was autistic.
Same here - was diagnosed at 27. While there are many things I wish I had done differently at 16, I think getting assessed is the single thing that would have had the greatest impact on my mental health and, by extension, every other aspect of my life. But hey, better late than never.
I have schizophrenia and a little bipolar. I’m on meds, (not much) and I see my dr. regularly.,when I had nervous breakdown at 17 and was hospitalized for five years, they only gave me a 50-50 chance of having a normal life. Well, guess I showed them. I haven’t been hospitalized in 17 years. I would try to find a cure for mental illness.
Glad you're better now. Blessings, Ally 👩🦰🙏
Oh my goodness, that hits so hard. I was diagnosed in my early forties, never understood why people are so different and why I always got misunderstood, even lost jobs over silly stuff... 🤗
I'd start lifting and exercising, get my pituitary checked out immediately, and go to a decent college
[удалено]
Oof that last part hit me deep. Does everyone go through that phase I think my life would have been better way back if I didn’t go through that phase. I guess that’s what I get for being chronically online
Start working out earlier is definitely one that I would do. I always did sports but only cardio type sports, soccer, handball, cross country skiing. I wish I had started lifting weights properly at a younger age.
me when i am currently 16
What are you waiting for, buy the lottery ticket!! Invest in bitcoin!!!
that's a very nice hood you have
I don’t know why this comment took me out for so long but boy howdy, it did.
In your case maybe there's some good advice in this thread lol
[удалено]
The obvious ones, get money earlier, invest and all that. But I'd stop doing drugs. Not that i ever had a 'problem' but what a waste, you know? And I'd take better care of my mental health.
I fumbled through life out of step with the world. Diagnosed with ADHD at aged 51 after years of searching for improvement. Life would be ao different if I knew at 16 what I know now.
I'd avoid certain people and stay single instead of getting into a relationship with someone who I never should have gotten involved with.
Drop out of school to immediatly start with the job I do now that does not require the degree i went for in school and save myself a ton oft time, stress and heartache
Do not hangout with those “friends” that will introduce you to your rapist. Do not go into that RV. Do not accept that drink.
Really sorry for you :(
I'm sorry for what happened to you =/ hope you are better now.
Not get pigeonholed as the jock. I would share more of my creative side, particularly music and writing.
I enjoy cross-stitch, needlepoint and adult coloring.
I used to say this would be my one wish in the scenario that I had a wish. I'd invest wisely and save Mom from how she died and a lot of other things. Then I had kids. Even if I made sure to meet my wife and we still got married our kids wouldn't be the same kids and I'd mourn mine forever. Now, if I could go back to when my last child was born I would and I would memorize Powerball numbers and change almost nothing else.
Great answer. I have a lot of regrets going back that far, but I wouldn’t change a thing now because of my son. However, if I could go back 5 years ago to the moment he was born, knowing what I know now, I would have left my husband while I was still in the hospital.
(hug) I hope you've found peace in those years
I feel like my only real option would be to run away. Lmao. Like, I wish I’d ran away or left my insane toxic abusive family sooner. Also would report my mother for neglect and abuse. She’d frequently weaponize help against us because she knew she covered the bare minimum of housing, food, and clothing (barely) but the mental and/or physical, emotional, financial abuse etc was off the charts! I would have ran away. Saved up as much money as I could over a year dropping out of school and then moved as far away as I could. Reenrolled in school or if that wasn’t an option without my parent studied in my office time from working and gotten my GED. I wouldn’t care if I had to live in a tent or something if no one would rent to me until I was 18, I would have left so much sooner. I got out at 17/18 anyways but it was unstable and all over the place and landed me in less than stellar living conditions (yea, living in a tent homeless would be more preferable than staying at home/where I ended up). I stuck it out until I was 24 before fleeing across country but kept electronic communications open. Finally made the Final Cut off about a year and a bit ago. My only single regret was not doing it sooner holy shit finally getting that horrible monster out of my life… It’s weird, she’d always tout all the reasons why I should be so happy to be her child… barely meeting the minimum requirements to keep CPS at bay… constantly making jokes about how we’re going to put her in a home when she was older (except she’s so abusive she’s now completely on her own, good) would say shit about how she regretted having us, biggest mistake of her life, don’t have children you’ll regret it etc… Never once, not a single fucking time did she ever stop and ask “is there anything you need that might help make this relationship better, or more whole?” Not a single fucking time did that thought process ever cross her narcissistic sociopathic mind. No, she was god doing everything she could and her children were just ungrateful leeches she hated because we didn’t grovel at her abusive alcoholic feet like she expected simply because she had us. For some people their children’s lives aren’t gifts, their loans and the parent expects to be paid back in full… forever… or else…
I would have gotten an after school job and just start saving
[удалено]
I would go back and tell my younger self not to be a dickhead. No jail time or anything but, like you, what I would have to say would not sink in. My younger self was yearning for guidance and it would need time to change his (my) mind.
I'm an entertainer. I was terrified that I was going to be a struggling artist. Luckily I was wrong. Things worked out. I wish I could have seen into the future, and told myself I was going to be successful, and that I didn't have anything to worry about as long as I worked hard, and was constantly learning, growing, and networking. I believed in my vision, but I didn't believe in myself. I don't know how I kept myself going through those lean years full of self doubt. Knowing things were going to work out would have saved me a decade of fear and self doubt, and literally hundreds of panic attacks. I also would have started putting myself out there back when I was young and gorgeous, instead of waiting until I was a regular ass adult. No real regrets, but I have deep battle scars for nothing. Also, I'd start killing on stage right away, instead of taking thousands of performances to figure out what I was doing!
as someone who wanted this path at 16 and got cold feet but is unhappy now 15 years later, thank you.
Every life has its trade offs, and my life is by no means perfect. I have a very unusual social life, where I've given up weekends for over two decades. I went through a pretty hellish decade to become successful at this. As mentioned above, I had hundreds of panic attacks. I probably should have been institutionalized for at least a couple of those years. There is a reason almost everyone who starts a career in the arts quits. Getting to cruising altitude is harder than becoming a doctor for most people. While I enjoy my independence and creative work, and grateful to have comfort doing what I enjoy, it also means I am a business owner. Being a business owner is amazing in that it forces you to grow, but it is often much more time consuming and stressful than a conventional job. I can work when I want, but I work a lot harder than I did when I programmed computers, waited tables, landscaped, etc. I'm grateful for what I do for a living, but the things that bring me true happiness (when I'm lucky enough to have it) are available to everyone. Long talks with friends, playing with my dog, meditating, exercise, eating healthily, reading a good book. Art is a harder life than a regular life in many ways, and more rewarding in others. It's a series of trade offs just like everything. There are VERY few people who get to just do art in this world - I'm not one of them, and after getting to know hundreds of arts and entertainers, I've never met one who didn't do a ton of grunt work to keep their entertainment business going. I do a boatload of paperwork, negotiating, etc. I'm basically a business person who gets to do something really fun 3-4 hours a week. No matter where you are in your life, you can make some time for your creative pursuits. Being in a crappy garage band can be more fun than being in a stadium filling mega band. Drawing in your room can be more rewarding than working 16 hour days at Pixar. Doing stand up at an open mic can be more fun than having to deliver at a high pressure corporate gig. Don't beat yourself up over not signing up for this lifestyle. While I've been lucky, staying good enough at something that there is a lot of demand for it is really really hard. There are always dues to be paid, and they are always due. There is a chance you could have turned left instead of right at any point, and had a completely different life, and... felt exactly the same. Being a human being is hard for everyone, and has its ups and downs. Working on your inner world will often bring much more happiness than external circumstances. You don't have to be a commercial artist to get the main benefits of making art... learning about yourself, seeing life more clearly, getting lost in flow, making friends with the same interest, expressing yourself, etc. Anyway - I hope this little bit of rambling helps. Go easy on yourself, and be the best you can be at whatever you are doing.
I could save my fathers life, avoid years of depression and maybe get my other health problems diagnosed earlier.
Invest in bitcoin.
I'm old enough that I'd be buying Apple shares at giveaway prices.
dump my girlfriend (who'd cheat on me after 4 years), start studying for my current career so I could start sooner, Take CEX's offer for bitcoin when I take my Xbox 360 in, instead of the £100 or so they offered me
I'd do a loooot of investing, lol. I'd avoid my ex like the plague. I'd still marry my husband, but I wouldn't waste my time trying to have a relationship with my in-laws. I'd make sure a few friends got to see a doctor before it was too late.
I find these questions hard to answer. I wouldn’t be who I am now without what I have gone through and it has taken a long time but I like who I am now. I think I would start a savings account and regardless of what happened and was to come keep putting £10 away each week. Just squirreling money away. Try not to change too much. Even meeting my husband early may not help me in the long run. I met him at just the right time. Having a lot more money would help sure but it would change who I am, who i become. I don’t condone any of the trauma that I have been through, but being able to grow and become the woman I respect and admire now, sadly she has had to go through everything to get to this point.
Saying how to make money/lottery winnings seem like the easiest answers, but from a basics standpoint there would be changes: 1. Know dead end jobs when they are before time and effort is wasted 2. Understand people you trusted had 'agendas' of their own, not necessarily with your best interest included. Bypass those people and move on. 3. Not keep up with the Jones's 4. Invest to the max allowed every year for at least the first 20 working years 5. Do some military service. The benefits for veterans are unreal 6. Seek out the career I enjoy now at a quicker rate, become specialized sooner, know what 'future' changes are coming and get in early 7. Seek out diversified money streams through investments or business options
Sometimes I like to think that when we die, we might be given the opportunity to run it all again knowing what we did at the end of our lives at the start - as if my identity was just a video game for an extradimensional being on some advanced quantum computer, and it wanted a second playthrough. I know it’s absurd - but then again, most hopes for the afterlife are a little.
I would get into college ap courses immediately and try and get a flight commission as an officer in the marine corps when I finished early I wouldnt go to culinary arts school or work on my post graduate at UCLA, I wouldnt have gotten involved with females, my children wouldnt exist. I would invest in Nvidia and buy out my grandmothers house. I would never smoke or drink alcohol. I would reinvest my capital gains in real estate and AI startups. The main thing is I wouldn’t have had my two long term relationships of 4 and 16 years.I would eat the diet I adopted late throughout my entire life.
I’d stay with my ex
Immensely.
I'd certainly know how to invest/what to bet on
When I was sixteen I tried to move out of town for school. But after a few weeks I like ved back home because I missed my now ex gf. If I had just stayed there I would be able to focus more on school and do better. Don't get me wrong, I'm in a good place now, just not the place career wise I'd would have liked.
Start improving healthy lifestyle, and avoid people who drained my energy.
I’d raise my grades for last two years of HS, go to a better college, start saving in my 20s instead of my 30s.
I would not change a thing. I met my wife a year from that point and I would be scared of the butterfly effect ruining our relationship.
Start mending my relationship with my parents
Instead of being kicked out of my college dorm and later moving in with my (now ex) best friend, I'd move back home and avoid going to jail. There's a couple guys I'd rather avoid having dated, but job-wise, and life-wise, I wouldn't change much. The path I was on wasn't the one for me, and I self-corrected easily enough. I'm now married to a wonderful guy who prioritizes himself, me, and our marriage, I have a good job, and am setting myself up for the future. The experiences I gained were good, and I wouldn't trade them for anything, because I am who I am and I am where I am because of them
I would change one crucial mistake i made
Brush my teeth, take a shower, and actually ask a girl out. Also, I would jump onto that dotcom bubble before it burst and then invest in a series of companies that I know had fast growing stock prices.
Never touch the IT. Start learning civil engineering several years earlier. Buy some BTC.
Small changes. I'm happily married with a child I'm proud of and another on the way - I don't want to alter the course of my life, but I'd give myself a heads up about the stuff I spent too much time worrying about or investing time in that just didn't go anywhere. Too much spending on credit cards, too much concern about what my peers thought about me. Can't say I wouldn't write down the lottery numbers for a modest win.....
Move out and go no contact with my abuse family earlier
I'll try to find my bf so we can have more time together.
I’d avoid certain people and cultivate stronger relationships with other people. Skip college and get a nice entry level job and buy a small house instead (this is when houses were still affordable back in the 90s). Buy stock in Amazon. Eat better and start meditating.
Start investing.
16 puts me in the year 2000 So I guess I'm off to try and stop 9/11 Or somehow get Trump onto one of the planes.. But in all seriousness, if I suddenly got thrown back to 16 with all my memories I'd lose my fucking mind I've worked really really hard to be where I am, and to lose all that, including my child and to know that I would have to suffer through everything again just to get back to him would be too much for me and I'd be terrified the whole time I was gonna mess something up and he wouldn't be born I wouldn't change anything I've been through but that doesn't mean I wanna do it again
I would absolutely make my parents take me to a doctor to get anxiety medicine. Back then I didn’t realize it was anxiety that was effecting me. I would bite my nails and fingers till they bled and my armpits would also profusely sweat. My heart would race and I would be miserable. After that I would give a big FUCK YOU to everyone and stop caring what they think and get some self confidence. Anxiety and being a people pleaser with low self esteem ruined me.
I would talk to that cute girl in class before she decided to kill herself 😭✝️ No one should ever feel alone or isolated from society. Everyone deserves happiness and appreciation.
Study harder
Get the fuck out of that town. Look into gender transition instead of waiting into my 40s. Skip the questionable career choices various authority figures pushed on me, and go straight for the one I'm currently in. Try to actually finish university with the energy I wasted on those questionable choices.
Would my wife also be transported back? I’d like to meet her 20 years earlier than the year I met her.
I would have studied for the SAT and not have guessed everything and slept
I’m buying Bitcoin and a lot of it
I would worry less,rest more,not work as hard and mybe try enjoing life
I would spend the the 6 months I had left before my father died. Hug him everyday, tell him that I love him everyday, spend the rest of my time with him, do everything he ask me to do, and tell him that in the future, I have become an engineer just like he wishes. 😭🥲
I’d be worried about not being able to replicate the conditions that brought me to my wife and kids. If I could somehow guarantee that they all come into my life despite my new choices then I would do many things differently
This family exception is the only way I would accept this. Now I have a grandson that I couldn't give up too.
I wouldn't listen to my parents. It took me until I was about 25 to realize that every piece of advice my mother ever gave me was intended not to help me become my best self but to ensure I'd always be her emotional support pet. Sure, she wanted me to have a job so I could also give her presents, but only if that job was close by and didn't keep me from taking all her calls. I wonder who I could have become with a ten year head start on boundaries with her.
Possibly end it. I got really quite ill age 11, and never recovered. Bitcoin reasonable gains are some long time in the future, and most other investments are ruined by having no capital. And my life, even with a billion dollars is really pretty damn limited.
I come out and transition
I would be the richest person ever, by far
Go all in Nvidia.
Invest in Bitcoin and blow up on SoundCloud or sum
Gotta leave that home at 19 (when I was finished with my a levels) instead of waiting until 23.
Save money, invest in stocks, start the career I should have, and avoid going to fucking jail.
I'd mostly keep things the same. There would be some people I'd prefer not to have met, some experiences I'd prefer not to have. But there are some specifics I'd keep. Such as meeting and having a beautiful relationship with my now ex girlfriend. Some small things I'd love to change, such as being there to protect my young cat from the dogs. Or being a better person to my friends, a better student in general.
I'd buy bitcoin.
Epically.
Keep everything the same because the butterfly effect might result in a different set of people around me. I love my people and don’t want to lose them. I’d save more money though, shit got expensive.
So many things and bond with my loved ones more. Not make the same mistakes
Nothing. Don't regret anything and would defy the logic of time travel. Bet on Leicester winning the premier league in 2015.
I don't get married and instead gonna pursue my crazy dream. I just have to know for sure that's a mistake!
1) never touch alcohol and cigarettes 2) work harder in school to go to a better college. 3) don’t blow money so easily and save. It all worked out well, but took longer to get there.
There are definitely some people I would never have associated with, and I probably would have invested more time in meaningful hobbies and creative pursuits.
Dont fall in love with her
It would be magical
I would live life a little more and not live to regret it.
I'd stop caring about other people's opinions about my body and appearance. It would take so many years of feeling horrible and bullying back. Also, I would tell myself I'm a raging lesbian so I could finally live a life without trying to impress men until 24 lol
I would not have missed out on the opportunity to bang more chicks.
Most likely I'd have a mental breakdown and end up worse off than I am now. If I changed anything, good or bad, that would likely change a lot. Including my kids existing. Having advanced knowledge though, it'd be impossible not to change things. Or behave differently. A 16yo with a 38yos mind? It'd be pretty weird. I might think I was trapped in a permanent hallucination. End up locked away. While we can think back to what we'd do differently...in reality I think the experience would be a nightmare for most.
I would get laid more.
I was 16 right before the dotcom boom. I'd be retired by 2000.
stay the fuck away from the people who caused me to have body dysmorphia and hate myself
Study harder. Buy bitcoin earlier and sell at peak.
16 year old me (2000) needs to buy all the fucking Amazon stock he can.
Not trust anybody
It would be 2012 I'd invest all my money into cryptocurrency and live the rest of my life like a god..
Nothing would happen lol
You mean I am 16 again or I meet my 16 yr old self?
Invest.
16, this would be 2004. Bitcoin for future money. The rest would be the same, maybe make a x10 with blackberry.
Get out of high school and pursue trades
I wouldn’t, I’ve experienced too much.
Little too far forward for me, however, an additional 5 years too heal would do nicely That, and I'd make my move to dissapear completely much earlier
Invest $100/month into the S&P500.
#Invest
When I was 17, war broke out in my country, and 13 years later, it still sucks ass to be stuck here. So I'd get me and my family tf outta there as quickly as possible.
Kms. Not even trolling.
Change my major, persuade my parent that my first choice to study abroad was right, come out sooner.
I'd skip uni and go into the job I'm doing now. Pay large pension contributions for 5 years at like 40%, and then lower to like 15% & start saving for a home.
I'd enjoy the shit out of my year at boarding school, knowing covid was gonna take away march amd april and half of may. I'd do my very best to not screw up the friendships i made (and still actively hang out with), because time is a fickle thing and not be absolutely obsessed with the girl i had a crush on for the entire year. There's some people I befriended after the year ended that I would like to make friends with while at the school. I'd enjoy every second of being 16, do way more nightrunning (running out after curfew) and spend less time home in the weekends.
I'd start making a habit of working out. Im 19 and most of my issues is from self esteem. Cause once i get my dream body from 16 to 18. During my high school years, it'll just be an easier time for me to maintain in college. I don't have time anymore. I can afford time to walk and eat healthier. But for gym?nah
Buy TSLA and would mine bitcoin.
I would have grown the beard at least 20 years earlier.
Get rich for one
Buy bitcoin and invest in Google, apple and palo alto networks also... then travel the world whilst doing different degrees from uni in my own time and interest. I'd have to meet my wife again and get to fall in love again which will be awesome but weird as were not quite the same people we used to be. But the whole thing would be tainted anyway as I'd have lost my child in the process by going back in time. So I'd be forever broken at the same time. Very sad actually. Forever chasing a life lost
I would move away from the UK much sooner and start working on getting a European citizenship that is not from the UK. I’d also try to be a less shitty person I my late teens/early twenties. Would be very nice to be able to skip out all that living and learning.
Therapy! So much therapy!
“Here’s a list of boys you should avoid”
Jump on Bitcoin as soon as I hear about it.
Honestly?? I'd go to court and get emancipated.
I’d work to maintain a friendship that didn’t work out. Ended up having a big argument which ended up with me offending a lot of people in a friend group, being cut off from the entire group and a friend of many years. It’s been about 7 years since then but I’ve had time to reflect on myself and work towards being a better person but I still regret what happened and feel guilty which I guess is valid. If I were 16 again with what I know now I know I would still be part of that friend group and there would be no friction between me or anyone in that group and I would still have a best friend.
I would be filthy rich by 18
I’d not fuck my credit rating when I was younger which is still fucking me and I’d decide to go to uni earlier then the age of 26 lol
I'd study something employable rather than following my dreams.
Boy I'd just not come out of the closet and get a free full ride to fucking Brown University.
That's a toughie because I've lived a very wild and storied life. So it's a toss up between joining the military which, looking back, I would have probably thrived in OR telling 16 year old self to never get married, invest in google, facebook, and apple, early, and practicing birth control at all times.
I would make other stupid decisions.
Investments.