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Throughout life, there comes a time when you’ve probably wondered what your life would be like if you’d made different choices along the way. How different would the rest of your life be? Would you come to regret the decisions you made? Would things be better? Or worse? This topic was recently discussed in a popular online forum. Here’s what people said they would change if they were given the opportunity to start their lives over again.

1. Avoided Long-Term Relationships

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“I would definitely not have gotten into a long-term relationship as a teenager. And I would have stood up more to rude/toxic family members,” someone explained.

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2. Get To Be a Billionaire

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“If I had the same knowledge then as I do now, I would absolutely do it. All the minor cringe moments in exchange I get to be a billionaire once I’m in my 20s, absolutely. If I have to learn everything like I did in my first run, no. I’m not going back,” somebody decided.

3. Skip College

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“I would not go to college and definitely not get a Ph.D. Instead, I would focus on developing my artistic abilities and learning a trade where I could work with my hands and be creative,” a person said.

4. No Changes Whatsoever

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“Absolutely nothing. All the things, bad and good, that happened to me made me who I am now. And I have no way of telling how any change would affect me as a person and a human being,” a user expressed.

5. The Butterfly Effect

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“I’ve seen the butterfly effect enough times to know that that’s not healthy thinking, even if you could do it,” someone shared.

6. Investing Strategy

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“I know what I’m doing now. If I had a time machine to take me back to the age of 21. I’d go and retire filthy rich,” someone mentioned.

7. Cut Off Friends

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“Pretty much nothing. The only thing I would do is not be so far in denial about my ex-best friend and cut her off a little bit sooner,” someone stated.

8. Stopped Repressing

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“Realized that I am a woman and stopped repressing it when I was a teenager instead of lying to myself for the following 15 years,” someone shared.

9. Result of Every Action

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“I strongly believe that “I” am the result of every action, thought, and experience I ever had or made and would not exist in this form if I changed anything important, even if most years sucked yet,” someone concluded.

10. High School Experience

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Someone expressed, “Only my high school experience, honestly. I spent too much time worrying about idiots, thinking it was wrong to be a loner when really people don’t mean anything in the end. Where are they now?”

11. Making Mistakes

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“My life isn’t perfect, but I am better for having experienced certain hardships and making mistakes. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like my life, but I’ve done my best to learn from my mistakes, and I do feel that I’m wiser for it,” someone exclaimed.

12. Dream Career

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“Go for my dream career (currently an office monkey and hating it; too old and in debt to start school again),” somebody shared.

13. Study Harder

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“I would have studied harder in high school and set myself up to have more overall confidence in life as I began adulthood. A lot of the issues I face today in terms of self-esteem and self-confidence can be traced back to elementary school, but really started manifesting in middle school,” someone explained.

14. Wrong People

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“Begging, accepting, and forgiving the wrong people even if they’ve wronged and hurt me tons of times,” someone said.

15. Still, Find A Way

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“I would have gone into I.T. right out of high school instead of messing with college and the automotive industry. I’d still have to find a way to meet my wife, though,” a user expressed.

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Inspired by this thread – photos for illustrative purposes only.