Editor's note: Although sometimes we don't want to admit it, regrets will inevitably be written in the autobiography of life.
When you walk by20In the green years of 6657_6706|, standing on the threshold of middle age and looking back on that time again, will you sigh and wonder why some things were not completed in the best years?
Maybe you dream of going to Egypt to see the pyramids, surfing on the beach in Hawaii, having dinner in a cafe in Paris, tasting fragrant coffee in Rome, hiking through the tropical rainforest...
However, when you get older, you find that these dreams have long been stranded on the beach piled up for various reasons.
So, please don’t hesitate any longer. If you don’t do some things now, you may never do them again in your lifetime!
Perhaps it’s because as we get older we look back on that period of adulthood as the height of freedom and autonomy. As move into middle age, we look back and wish that we had made better choices and taken more opportunities. Here’s a list of things that we regret not doing in our 20s.
1. Traveling more
I regret not traveling more, and so does nearly everyone that I have asked. Before kids, and mortgages and marriages, when our commitments and expenses were lower, the opportunities for travel were much greater, but for some reason many of us thought we’d always have time for travel later.
We dreamed of visiting the pyramids of Egypt, surfing off the Hawaiian coast, dining at a Parisian café, drinking espresso in Rome, trekking through the rainforest, and so much more. Sadly, many of us never made these journeys and the opportunity passed us by.
2. Being more responsible with spending
In order to invest in our retirement or save for that down payment, we would have needed to make wiser financial spending choices. Things like buying or holding on to that perfectly reliable used car, instead of splurging on the new model…because we could, eating out less and saving for a house instead, buying fewer shoes and purses and clothes and paying off student loans sooner. So many saving opportunities lost, money spent on tangible things, instead of on the future.
3. Better planning
I regret not focusing more on where I wanted to go in life, what I wanted to do, who I wanted to be and what it would take to get there. With some more planning in our twenties, we’d be further ahead in our 40s and perhaps a bit happier as well.
4. Seizing more experiences
I wish I had learned to ski and paint, speak Italian and do the Tango. I regret not living somewhere else before settling down. Others have said they regret not pursuing their hobbies or learning to sky dive or mountain climb. I prefer to stay on the ground, but I do regret not learning more, not trying new things that are hard to fit into the life of a forty something working wife and mother.
5. Living a more active lifestyle
The bodies of youth are wasted on the young… I wish I had run a marathon before my knees ached, that I had biked more, hiked more, and took spinning classes when my legs were stronger. I regret not joining a softball team or volleyball league. We don’t often realize that we have squandered our physical abilities until things start aching and creaking.
6. Making more friends
I regret not reaching out more, putting more effort into creating a tribe of support that would carry me through more difficult times. We socialize sure, but many of us don’t put enough importance on building deep and lasting friendships. Some do, many don’t and wish they had.
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