-- i was asked by a friend, " ever dream of what you would have been if you -----

[lumpy]

More specifically, I would have waited a few years to get married, made more of an effort to stay in the bicycle industry instead of going to law school,

This is too depressing and morbid. I can't make a list. Those aren't even the biggest ones necessarily.

The good thing about kids is I wouldn't have mine be any different than they are, and that lets me rationalize all the dumb things I've done.

[Shinomaster]

Sometimes I think I'd do everything over.

[Jason Musgrave]

Great thread.

I've got regrets. This may be the injury talking but I've been in a pretty dark place lately. My employment situation is not good and with 8 & 6 year olds and an infant it makes moving on tough - at least mentally. And my job sucks up pretty much every waking moment - I regret not spending more time dating my wife, hiking with the girls, or riding my bike.

My wife and kids I wouldn't trade for the world!

[Jonathan]

The only thing I feel regret about or would without question change is I'd be nice to the pale blue-ish looking kid at my ninth grade bus stop. He had no friends and had a hard time making them. He died of congenital heart failure mid year and I can't help but think every now and then how we could have made his last months better by just including him as one of the guys. Such a small gesture may have made a world of difference to him and his family. We didn't even know his name.

[Philster]

I regret not making enough mistakes. I still have time, though.

[ron l edmiston]

--- thanks my brothers, i can close my eyes tonight & ....

"IMAGINE.."

John Lennon & ronnie with a smile

[rowdyhillrambler]

Took my wife out on a date tonight, trying to somehow make her understand that our lives together, are so much better than apart... We have been together since we were kids, sometimes you grow weird. This is a forum about bicycles, but I respect a lot of opinions here.

I joke, and I laugh, but sometimes shit gets real. I shouldA a let my wife know 10 years ago that she is important.

[Jake Rosenfeld]

This is a forum about bicycles, but I respect a lot of opinions here.

I think this is a forum full of wonderful people brought together by the common thread of bicycles and I love it when its so obvious that someone here has gone far outside of their normal comfort zone to share or impart some of their knowledge because they care about who they are sharing it with although we are all effectively.... well, strangers.

as far as going back and doing it differently or the same, wow. that's heavy. I guess when I think back now and wonder if I could've done it better I'm reminded of a part in the rush documentary on Netflix. In it, Neal Peart talks about how we should only worry about and use our thoughts of the past to remind us to pay more attention to our now. I'm sure theres a million proverbs that say the same thing but its working for me anyway. it's good to have goals and work towards them but stop chasing, life can be a false flat if you let it.

[Zimmermanbicycle]

It's my fifth wedding anniversary today,married to the love of my life with a terrific 3.5 year old son.
I'm 51 years old and have been working hard since I was 10,had I not screwed up massively on the road to where I find myself now I could not have pulled off and maintained what I have now.
My first marriage was a painful mistake and a necessary lesson,I've worked on every continent save Antarctica but now want nothing more than to stay home with my son.
As much as I could look back in pain,that pain is what I am now and I'm better for it.
Really hoping to live long enough to watch my son grow into middle age.
-Eric

[savine]

If I could do it again I'd have stayed off the drugs, been more discaplined with my training and not have been told at eighteen by my trainer that I'm the has been that could've been, gone to art school and not straight into a studio, told my mum n dad about that pregnant girl......but, due to all the shit I went through and put so many people through I wouldn't be the person I am now and by God's grace I've been changed.

I got married at twenty two (I started very early screwing up n by 22 things had changed) and still head over heels in love with my wife, have eight healthy n fun children, have a job which is a dream for many and is so for me, travel the world it seems every weekend and have been blessed by God with a new start.

[rowdyhillrambler]

Not sure I am a believer, but good on you. Sometimes a little help is all we need.

[rowdyhillrambler]

On the porch with the wife, praying for the best days to come.... Hoping, wishing

[rowdyhillrambler]

I love a lot, and love a lot of you guys... None of you have I ever met, but still feel understood..

[rowdyhillrambler]

Hey Ron, Thanks for this thread..

[JoB]

since you're on the porch with the wife, maybe put the phone down :-)

Best of luck to you and your lady, you sound like good and thoughtful people.

On the porch with the wife, praying for the best days to come.... Hoping, wishing

[Clyde]

I could say that I wish I had different parents; who stayed together instead of divorcing and me ending up in the mental ward for 3 years. Once I got out I went straight Ozzy for the next 7-8 years and there was not a drug unsnorted or reefer unburned, or bottle left with a drop in it. Somewhere I moved to CA, met my wife, got clean, and then recovered from the bike industry. Now as an RN I get to see the results of the above unchecked and have gratitude every day. I have a 15 yr old who shows me things, sometimes painful, about how genetics are passed along. Rowdy marriage is in cycles for us, some good, some bad, some last months, some last days, some last hours. I find that time does in fact heal all, and the anger I may feel this am will likely change by the afternoon or evening, and my biggest job is to divert it from self-hatred.

Truly all my paths in life have taken me here and I cannot allow myself to have any regrets. I am exactly where I need to be doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing.

[znfdl]

My only regret was not finishing my PhD in Economics. I made the cardinal sin of dating someone in the same program and after one and half years of dating, our relationship was over and so was my education.

[Tom]

I think about this a lot, maybe its just the age I am now with one parent just dying and the other on that road. I think about my mistakes and the pain they still cause when I am reminded of them, the opportunities passed by because I was too stupid and think would things be better? They wouldn't, I truly believe. I think that my path is because of who I am and what's happened is because I made it that way. The funny thing is, no matter how much I seem to screw up it still comes out really good. I don't totally understand that part.

[Jeffrey Borisch]

...and the anger I may feel this am will likely change by the afternoon or evening, and my biggest job is to divert it from self-hatred.

This. This has got to be close to the root of all time-sucks and life-sucks. I'd be much happier and more productive if I could if I could let this truth short circuit the negativity.

[Matthew Strongin]

Great thread.

I've got regrets. This may be the injury talking but I've been in a pretty dark place lately. My employment situation is not good and with 8 & 6 year olds and an infant it makes moving on tough - at least mentally. And my job sucks up pretty much every waking moment - I regret not spending more time dating my wife, hiking with the girls, or riding my bike.

My wife and kids I wouldn't trade for the world!

Replace kids with dogs and this could have been my post. I've had some rough times on the personal front, but I wouldn't trade the woman who stands by me for any of the pain in the past. She's the best. Period. On the work front I found myself in a career where despite being fairly successful feels like I'm living someone else's life. It's not the path I feel I was meant for and I would love to go back and make some different decisions.