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“If I had my life to live over...

Someone asked me the other day if I had my life to live over would I change anything.

My answer was no, but then I thought about it and changed my mind.

If I had my life to live over again I would have waxed less and listened more.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy and complaining about the shadow over my feet, I'd have cherished every minute of it and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was to be my only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten popcorn in the "good" living room and worried less about the dirt when you lit the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would have burnt the pink candle that was sculptured like a rose before it melted while being stored.

I would have sat cross-legged on the lawn with my children and never worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television ... and more while watching real life.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband which I took for granted.

I would have eaten less cottage cheese and more ice cream.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick, instead of pretending the Earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for a day.

I would never have bought ANYTHING just because it was practical/wouldn't show soil/ guaranteed to last a lifetime.

When my child kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now, go get washed up for dinner."

There would have been more I love yous ... more I'm sorrys ... more I'm listenings ... but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute of it ... look at it and really see it ... try it on ... live it ... exhaust it ... and never give that minute back until there was nothing left of it.”

---Erma Bombeck

[goodreads.com].

TheoryNumber3 8 July 26
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14 comments

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0

The God stuff right at the start turned me off.

Tejas Level 8 July 27, 2022

Yeah me too, but I loved the rest of it.

2

The major change I would make is not to have lived my life as if I was the hero or the movie star. Books, stories and TV had that effect on me and it took most of my life to ditch bad things and become my real self. Along the way I helped others and never did real harm to anyone. A big disillusionment to myself but this started to change once I became atheist. I was never Superman or Tarzan and the God image Fell way also. At one point I described my life as being shattered. It all becomes different as you put the pieces back together. Today I have no enemies and no real hate. If I'm in conversation with someone and their hate comes out I ask them how they can live like that. So many of us are interconnected but too busy to see how. I'm sure we all want a life well lived but when we are gone there is always much unfinished business. Try to inspire others in a positive way.

1

“Standing on the stern of a ship the wake shows you where the ship has been as it fades out in the distance. The wake does not drive the ship.” Alan Watts

1

Oh, all the little things, sure, I'd do a few small things differently, and I'm glad I realize how to enjoy my life more about mid-way through it. The older I get the more mellow I am toward enjoying more of the minutes of my days.

The big things I'd have done differently - wow- would have changed my life completely! I would have not have been in such a hurry to marry -- good choices take time, so I would want to wait for the right one. That in itself would have changed my trajectory in a major way.

If something doesn't feel right when you're doing it -- yes you can change your mind before it's too late --- and it's never too late.

2

I would have just avoided meeting the man I married, instead I would have married the one that carried my graduation pic in his wallet for over 40 years.

Me too.

2

"The unexamined life is not worth living" is a famous dictum supposedly uttered by Socrates at his trial for impiety and corrupting youth, for which he was subsequently sentenced to death.

7

I wouldn't change a thing, because everything I've ever done, has gotten me to where I am now.
Although, it would have been cool to have bought Apple stock when it first went public.

2

Giving this topic some thought as I am sitting in a parking lot with a computer. Had I to do things over when I was in high school I would have tried harder to get better grades, I would have realized I was having trouble with a learning disorder and gotten some help. I would have upon graduation written to my uncle and seen if I could have gotten into Cal Tech. Having that not work out I did have a full ride scholarship to a technical school I now forget the name of. That would have been great as I am now building a CNC lathe almost from scratch. That would have taken me away from Montana and the strangeness that was. I would have liked to worked for the Lab at Livermore doing something interesting, helping make really technical things. That having not worked out I would have probably gone to live with my mother in Portland, where I would have quickly gotten out on my own and found where I could now intersect with the present life I have. I would have enjoyed school more, I would have asked more questions and I would have involved myself in the life I was making for myself. Now this would have led me away from the Philosophy classes I took at the Universities in Montana, where I learned how to learn and how to do research. Knowing what I know now I could make it work.
Life is what you make of it, it is what you fight to do, to learn, to figure out, one has to get active in its doing.

2

You know how to make a grown man cry as that is what I would have done. Though I think I would not have let my dick rule over my brain without a fight and some thought.

4

Waxing is a bit painful, bit it's easier than shaving every few days.

1

Sounds a lot like Emily's " Return To Earth" speech in Our Town. Few people actually fully realize and experience life while they are living it, except, as The Stage Manager character says in reply to her speech, " The saints and poets, they do some.....".

Life is what happens while you're making plans

@TheoryNumber3 The quote is from a John Lennon song. His actual lyrics were, "Life is what happens, while you're busy making other plans"...

@TomMcGiverin actually it's

"Life is what happens while you're you're busy making other plans" 😊.

John Lennon used the quote, but he didn't originally say it. It's been attributed to various people like Henry Cooke and Robert Balzer. It's unclear who the original author was

I think most of us are so busy planning for the future that we miss the present.

3

I have few regrets, but I would do many things differently if I could do it over, knowing what I know now about myself and life in general.

I'm probably like most people, I would do some things over differently. The main one that comes to mind is, I would have taken better care of my teeth, because the older I get, the more discomfort I have with getting fillings and crowns...

@TomMcGiverin Amen to that brother.

2

I remember Erma Bombeck. I sometimes read her column, which was near Ann Landers' column, which I read everyday.

Anyway, regrets. Yeah too many.........

twill Level 7 July 26, 2022

Regrets? I've had a few... but then again.... too few to mention 🙂

@TheoryNumber3 LOL. I thought of the same song

3

I too have some regrets.......there may have been a few parties that I missed......

jasen Level 8 July 26, 2022
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