Discussion
Was watching Britain's Biggest Warship on the telly yesterday (I love things like that) which reminded me of the time I almost joined the Royal Navy.
I was a sea cadet as a kid and went on submarines, frigates, destroyers etc, and even got accepted into the RN after finishing my apprenticeship, but declined as they wanted me to start at the bottom again (think I deserved to be at least an Admiral or something
).
My life's been OK; Engineering, Motorsport, Investing/Business Development, but there's still that pang of regret and the "what if".
Any regrets about your life choices?
I was a sea cadet as a kid and went on submarines, frigates, destroyers etc, and even got accepted into the RN after finishing my apprenticeship, but declined as they wanted me to start at the bottom again (think I deserved to be at least an Admiral or something
).My life's been OK; Engineering, Motorsport, Investing/Business Development, but there's still that pang of regret and the "what if".
Any regrets about your life choices?
I don't tend to regret choices as they've all led me to where I am now, which is reasonably happy.
One can could've/should've, but who knows where that would have led to? Maybe a better place, maybe not.
I do wish I'd travelled more and not been in such a rush to get on the career ladder when leaving school. It was drummed in to us to start straight away on our path - I sometimes wish I'd worked on a cruise ship or similar, to experience the world a bit more.
Oh and of course there was that girl who was definitely not just asking me back to hers for a drink
One can could've/should've, but who knows where that would have led to? Maybe a better place, maybe not.
I do wish I'd travelled more and not been in such a rush to get on the career ladder when leaving school. It was drummed in to us to start straight away on our path - I sometimes wish I'd worked on a cruise ship or similar, to experience the world a bit more.
Oh and of course there was that girl who was definitely not just asking me back to hers for a drink
If I was a kid again, I'd ask my parents to let me do the following things:
Learn how to build engines and make them better and faster. Start with rebuilding a Mini, move onto Rover V8s, Jag straight sixes etc. Really understand from an early age how they work.
Learn to box over at one of the gyms in Canning Town, a decent life skill and educational at an early age I'd imagine.
Learn a couple of languages when your mind can take it onboard and not think you sound an idiot.
Learn to play the guitar. Tried so many times over the years, but just can't get my head round it. I have a guitar on a stand in the upstairs landing that's purely an ornament.
Four things I can't do.
Learn how to build engines and make them better and faster. Start with rebuilding a Mini, move onto Rover V8s, Jag straight sixes etc. Really understand from an early age how they work.
Learn to box over at one of the gyms in Canning Town, a decent life skill and educational at an early age I'd imagine.
Learn a couple of languages when your mind can take it onboard and not think you sound an idiot.
Learn to play the guitar. Tried so many times over the years, but just can't get my head round it. I have a guitar on a stand in the upstairs landing that's purely an ornament.
Four things I can't do.
Probably that I didn't try harder and put more effort it at School and University. I was the sort of student who is reasonably smart, but always put the minimum effort possible in as it just didn't interest me. Annoyingly those subjects do interest me now and I get everything I struggled with at the time.
I also wish I hadn't wasted so much money on cars when I was younger and had invested it and bought property sooner.
I first heard of Bitcoin back in 2016 when it was around $500. I thought there must be another coin to invest in so did a search and found something called Ethereum which was I seem to recall $7 at the time. I thought about investing $1000 dollars into Ethereum as an utter gamble, but after some searching it seemed too hard and I gave up on the idea.
That would have bought me 143 ETH which would have been worth $250K today, but I suspect I would have lost it in some exchange hacking scam, or sold it after a year or two and been utterly gutted.
I also wish I hadn't wasted so much money on cars when I was younger and had invested it and bought property sooner.
I first heard of Bitcoin back in 2016 when it was around $500. I thought there must be another coin to invest in so did a search and found something called Ethereum which was I seem to recall $7 at the time. I thought about investing $1000 dollars into Ethereum as an utter gamble, but after some searching it seemed too hard and I gave up on the idea.
That would have bought me 143 ETH which would have been worth $250K today, but I suspect I would have lost it in some exchange hacking scam, or sold it after a year or two and been utterly gutted.
Muzzer79 said:
I don't tend to regret choices as they've all led me to where I am now, which is reasonably happy.
One can could've/should've, but who knows where that would have led to? Maybe a better place, maybe not.
I do wish I'd travelled more and not been in such a rush to get on the career ladder when leaving school. It was drummed in to us to start straight away on our path - I sometimes wish I'd worked on a cruise ship or similar, to experience the world a bit more.
Oh and of course there was that girl who was definitely not just asking me back to hers for a drink :banghead :
While at uni, turning down an invitation from the stunning raven-haired Irish student to go back to her place and instead chasing after an equally stunning girl who with hindsight only liked me as a friend. One can could've/should've, but who knows where that would have led to? Maybe a better place, maybe not.
I do wish I'd travelled more and not been in such a rush to get on the career ladder when leaving school. It was drummed in to us to start straight away on our path - I sometimes wish I'd worked on a cruise ship or similar, to experience the world a bit more.
Oh and of course there was that girl who was definitely not just asking me back to hers for a drink :banghead :
Muzzer79 said:
I don't tend to regret choices as they've all led me to where I am now, which is reasonably happy.
One can could've/should've, but who knows where that would have led to? Maybe a better place, maybe not.
Yep, you've got to be careful about which butterflies you'd go back and stamp on.One can could've/should've, but who knows where that would have led to? Maybe a better place, maybe not.
My life is pretty good. Of course it could be better, but it could certainly be a lot worse, too.
I've made mistakes, a fair few over the years. I don't regret any of them as they showed me what I was capable of and made me who I am today. Without them I wouldn't have my daughter, my wife or my stepson and my life would have gone in a completely different direction. I'm happy, comfortable financially (despite my ex wife's best efforts) and aging gracefully
Wish I'd kept hold of a couple of the cars from the early 90s though. One of my best mates has a Y reg 2.0 Sierra Ghia and an F Reg Sapphire sat in his garage. Nice little nest egg based on current values
Wish I'd kept hold of a couple of the cars from the early 90s though. One of my best mates has a Y reg 2.0 Sierra Ghia and an F Reg Sapphire sat in his garage. Nice little nest egg based on current values
Lots of minor things, but they could have pushed me in different directions to where I am now, potentially leading to me being worse off. Trying harder at uni is one but as I would never have been in the top 20% anyway in my field with more effort I've done well on the route I've taken.
My one main regret, as someone into dance music was not going to Ibiza in my 20/30s. 40 now and despite still attending the odd event, I think Ibiza is probably behind me.
My one main regret, as someone into dance music was not going to Ibiza in my 20/30s. 40 now and despite still attending the odd event, I think Ibiza is probably behind me.
Not buying a house at 24 when I could afford one. I wasn't in a rush because I couldn't have predicted that prices would take off shortly after that point and quickly accelerate out of reach... and that my career would fail progress the way I had expected to offset the house price rise with decent wage inflation. I'm now 48 and have just reached a point where I can afford to buy somewhere. I should have been mortgage free by now!
Type R Tom said:
My one main regret, as someone into dance music was not going to Ibiza in my 20/30s. 40 now and despite still attending the odd event, I think Ibiza is probably behind me.
Same here chap I was always - Do I spend £500 - £1000 on a holiday or that's another decent chunk of change to put towards my house deposit fund...Type R Tom said:
My one main regret, as someone into dance music was not going to Ibiza in my 20/30s. 40 now and despite still attending the odd event, I think Ibiza is probably behind me.
A couple of my mates are into Chase and Status and a few years ago as blokes in their late forties went to a local event of theirs. While getting lost in the evening they were asked by a couple of teenagers if they were "Vintage Ravers". I often remind them of this.
Gargamel said:
“Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not having been at sea.”
Samuel Johnson
I did both.Samuel Johnson
davek_964 said:
Yes - as a young teenager at school, I really wanted to be an RAF pilot. One of my teachers was quite negative about it for some reason, and it really put me off. To this day, I still wish it's what I'd done.
But I should have done this.Eventually found my way to flying as a hobby, but I know it will never really scratch that fast-jet itch, no matter how much money I throw at it. I wish I hadn't been so easily persuaded to give up before I'd even really started.
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