Mistakes and Regrets

MISTAKES and REGRETS

I've made a lot of them in my lifetime and I expect I will make a lot more before I am finished. Maybe they weren’t necessarily mistakes but more like regrets:

•   I wish I had joined more clubs in college instead of spending all my free time in bars.
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•   I should have studied abroad in college.
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•   I didn’t try to be successful in high school.  I studied a little bit more in college.  When I worked on my Master’s, I tried even harder. When I worked on my doctorate, I really tried.  I should have tried just as hard all through my academic career.
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•  I wish I had made more effort to be a champion for my students.  When I hear from them now, they appear grateful but I could have made more effort.
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•    I always wanted to play the sax but no one in my family played an instrument. So I never learned.  I am illiterate in music.
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•   I should have watched my weight the minute it started to slip away form me.
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•  Trying to be cool was a waste of time in high school.
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•   There are words I have said to people that I would like to take back.
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•     I was bullied, I bullied and I watched people get bullied.  I could have used more courage during all of these times.
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•   Meditation is something that I think would help me but I don’t have the self-discipline to make this part of my daily routine.
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•    I lack self-discipline in so many areas of my life.
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•     I procrastinate way too much.
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•   I bought too many things in my life.  I spent my early years, accumulating stuff.  Now I spend too much time trying to pawn my stuff off on other people.
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•  I didn’t pay enough attention to my money.  I can really save money but I am not good at inverting money.
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•  Growing up, my parents gave us more opportunities than they gave us money.  I should have spent my money on opportunities, not things.
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•    After I earned my doctorate, I stopped taking academic classes.  Maybe I could have earned another Master’s in an unrelated area just to give me a different perspective on life.
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•    It took me a long time to understand white privilege.
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•   I am a risk taker in so many areas yet, I hold back in so many areas as well. How do I balance the two ends of the spectrum?
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•    I never learned to swim.
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•   I never owned a Mustang convertible.
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•   I bought a big ass van with the intention of driving it cross-country. It just ate too much money and only got 8 miles to the gallon so it never went cross-country. Mostly, it sat in my driveway.
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•  I rented a house for 12 years. I had the opportunity to buy it but I was too afraid of the responsibility of being a homeowner.
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•     I am hesitant to dance in public.
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•   I let too many friends slip away from me.
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•   I didn’t pay attention to nature until I was well into my forties. That was a shame and a loss.   One time, my sister thanked me for introducing her kids to nature and I was really pleased, hoping that maybe, just maybe this appreciation enriched their lives.
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•   I was raised to fear math and science. What a waste of emotion and potential talent.
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•   I never knew my father’s parents so I have no sense of them. Meanwhile I saw my mother’s parents almost every day of my childhood. Sometimes I forget that I had two sets of grandparents.
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•   I consider myself an artist even though I don’t have a lot of artistic talent.  I should experiment more with all kinds of artistic outlets.
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•  Gardening never interested me when I was younger. Now I love to garden. It brings me peace to sit in my garden.
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