If you had your life to live over

[diverbrian]

sealkie once bubbled...
Looking at this over populated, poluted raped planet I don`t think anyone in the western world over school age has the right to offer advice to anyone !

But for what it`s worth -mine would be

Take every chance to see good rock bands live

Make you own mistakes - even if they are same as someone else`s with very little effort and imagination you can add you own twist

That's a pretty harsh indictment. I also look at history for a reason. I may not control want I have done, but I have some limited control over what I will do. Therefore, it would be a huge folly for me to learn from somebody else's mistakes or as well, learn from other's successes.

And Dr. Bill, that thought about 4.5 billion years is a might humbling if we all think about it. Most likely, the adverse effects would start a billion or two before that.

 

[raviepoo]

I would not have wasted 7 years on a lying scum of a man who didn't deserve the benefit of my patience and forgiveness.

I would not have had the abortion I had right after college.

I support abortion rights almost religiously, but in light of the way my life has gone since, I regret having had one.

Yes experience made each one of us who we are today. But I prefer the person I used to be, before I was molded by cruelty and betrayal. There are some lessons one is better off not learning. If I could erase some of the worst of my past, I would do it without any hesitation.

 

[keytofreedom]

Hey Sealkie - I've seen more great rock banks than probably you are old and they really haven't added all that much to my life (a little deafness, maybe). Life is all about relationships and you can't really have one with a rock bank (well, I've known a few women who did and the things they had added to their lives you really wouldn't want.) I hope you lose the cynicism along the way. Life is hard enough when you try to find the good in things.

By the way diverbrian, I knew that Bob Seger had that line in "Against The Wind", but there's a country guy with an entire song about wishing he didn't know now what he didn't know then. (I guess, me being from Twangtown, I'm the only person who is aware of these things.) I just wanted to clear that up in case you thought I wasn't cool.

raviepoo - I admire your courage. Those are the kind of things I wish our girls would listen to....abortion damages us. We may not (or may) think it's wrong, but it still damages the soul of the woman who enters into it. You keep telling it like it is!

 

[SueMermaid]

Like so many have said before me, I would not change a thing, except I would probably have hugged my Mom more.
I have gone through some tough times, and some life-threatening ones as well. I would not want to re-live those times, true, but I would not change the things that have happened to me. Pain is necessary for growth.
I love my life and myself, and how I turned out. I am blessed and fortunate. I have health, a great job, a lovely house on the water, good friends, and lots of interests, plus the resources to pursue them.
I look forward to finding out where life is gonna take me next!

 

[divemistress]

um, that's not the way i interpret her statement. but maybe that's because i disagree with your view. perhaps she can clarify.....

dm

keytofreedom once bubbled...
raviepoo - I admire your courage. Those are the kind of things I wish our girls would listen to....abortion damages us. We may not (or may) think it's wrong, but it still damages the soul of the woman who enters into it. You keep telling it like it is!

 

[wapyaly]

keytofreedom once bubbled...
Your answers are really fascinating to me. Let me pose this angle: If there was a young person on this planet who really could avoid problems by learning from someone else's experience, is there anything you would advise them to avoid that you did do?

go with your gut feeling. If something feels the right thing for you to do, do it. If your gut tells you its wrong, stay as far away as possible and find another way round your situation.

As my profile says........don't regret what you've done, only what you have not.

 

[keytofreedom]

Divemistress....I wish I knew how to do that thing "So-and-so once bubbled", but I am not computer literate. Re: your comments about abortion, you made me realize that I had no right to make such a sweeping generalization about what effect abortion has on a woman's soul. My apologies. I have never had an abortion and, therefore, I have no right to comment. I am very much interested in human nature and have talked at great length with many of my friends who have had them, sometimes multiple abortions. They all seem to still carry a lot of guilt.

I remember the day Roe v. Wade came down; I think I was a 18. I couldn't believe my ears. To me, it was totally wrong. I have softened my view somewhat. I do believe in a woman's right to choose what's best for her, but I know my views will always be colored by living on both sides of the legalities of it. Does that make any sense at all?

I talked to a woman one night who had been violently raped and impregnated by her attacker. She was a Christian woman who didn't believe in abortion and, therefore, decided to have and keep that child. She and her parents were both there and they just beamed when they talked about the blessing that child is in their lives. So to affirm all the posts that have mentioned the bad stuff turning into good...That one takes the cake!

So, sorry if I offended anyone by my earlier comments. Now, I've probably offended again. I just don't know when to shut up.

 

[Tractor Tom]

...I'd have accepted the offer to go to Infantry OCS and stayed in the Army for a first career. Going to the Signal School got me into the technology that provided me a career in working with it at the FBI, the Senate Computer Center, a couple Northern Virginia Startups and finally brought me to my gig here working for the Telephone company. I've always made a good living, and rarely had to work out in the rain, like I did when I was in the Infantry. But DARN IT, I never took a big chance! I always moved seamlessly from job to job, kept the money coming in and paid the bills on time. Lived that life of 'quiet desperation' that you hear about. Never gambled it all, never lost it all, and I fear at nearly age 50, working towards a good pension, I never will. I'm getting too old and too fat, and have too many responsibilities to walk away from it all now!

If I would have known then, what I know now, I would have taken the OCS appointment and stayed in....

 

[keytofreedom]

frankenmuth-tom...Wouldn't let the self-inflicted illusion of being too old or too fat stop you from going after life's goodies. Just remember those folks on the Titantic who should've ordered dessert.

 

[AquaBob]

Every action you take or choice you make has a consequence -- either positive or negative.

By following two simple rules, you can be assured that the balance will be positive.

1. Don't Wreck Stuff
2. Try to get along with people.


Regardless of the path you choose, following those rules serve you well.

I've tried to think of a situation where they don't apply and haven't found one.


ps.
I've recently learned that there is one more rule...

Rule 6. Always look Cool.

but I think that may be more of a guideline rather than an actual rule.