Is there something you've done in your life that you look back on and realize could have gone really bad? Were you naive about something and years later, you thought, wow, that could have had a different outcome?

 

What's something you cringe about when you think back on it?

#1

I was homeless for over a year and made many bad decisions that put my life in jeopardy. The main one that sticks out is smoking a bowl of marijuana with a stranger, a much older man. We got to talking and he disclosed that he had just gotten out of prison a week prior. Being young, dumb & naive, I asked what he was in for. "Murder". He said it so calmly, so matter-of-fact, he could have just as easily been saying "nothing, I was framed.". Anyway, I noped out of there pretty quickly, realizing that he and I were in the middle of Waterfront Park at night, very dark & not legally allowed to be there afterhours. He was a nice conversationalist but I never asked the story, never got his name. "I smoked a bowl of weed with a murderer" is always a fun way to start a party conversation, though.

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    #2

    50% of all the things I do. Sometimes I'm a genius, other times I'm a complete idiot. NEVER inbetween.

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    #3

    Choked me out, threatened to destroy my things and held a knife in my face? Better date you for another four years.

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    #4

    I didn’t DO this to myself , but I thought that my adopted father sexually used me was a normal thing.
    Until I learned it wasn’t.
    I’m well through therapy and much better now.
    He is dead now, and I didn’t go to the funeral.

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    #5

    When I was 21, I moved from a small safe town in Oklahoma to the outskirts of St. Louis. I was very naive about things and one day while walking around, just exploring the town I was in, a guy probably a few years older than me stopped to talk. Me being friendly, walked and talked with him for awhile and somehow he invited himself over to my apartment.
    I was just trying to make friends so even though it made me a little nervous, I let him in. We chatted while I put up a Christmas tree and he called his friend and told him that he was "kickin it with a white chick."
    He eventually left and i never saw him again. But looking back, I mentally kicked myself. The things that could have went so wrong by inviting a stranger into my empty apartment. I was just so used to the safe country life. But that quickly changed after a few more months of living there.

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    #6

    Little 9-year-old me decided that nobody could hurt me if I pushed everyone away.

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    #7

    dating my ex!

    I just don't know how I didn't leave him sooner.. one day I just couldn't take it anymore and left, best decision ever.

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    #8

    For the majority of my life from elementary to middle school, I was obsessed with capri pants and I refused to wear full-length jeans, tights, joggers, etc.

    Looking back at the pictures, I realize my choices haven't always been on point. No hate to capris, I just look like shiit in them

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    #9

    In 1995, in the days leading up to my wedding to my now ex-wife, I knew I was making a mistake. We’d been engaged for two years and had grown apart, not together in that time, but I found myself thinking, “Well, I can’t back out now!”

    No, stupid. That’s exactly when you back out—before you waste four more years of your lives. Twenty-three-year-old me was not the smart version of me.

    On the upside, we split amicably, didn’t even need a lawyer, and I think she’s a great person. We just weren’t right for each other at all.

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    #10

    Getting married. Never again!

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    #11

    Oh so many
    Failing at sewer slide
    Giving my retainer a sharpie tattoo (poor impulse control ayyy(dhd)
    Eating that *anything*
    Telling someone what was happening
    Pushing people away
    Oversharing/not opening up (I’m a paradox)
    Uhh there’s probably more Im an idiot lmao

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    #12

    dating my ex!

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    #13

    get close to the wrong people
    but besides the obvious
    put food in my backpack, im a klutz so sometimes I forget to close a bag or container whatever. backpacks of mine for years filled with nasty crumbs of who knows what!! only sealed foods in my tote bag now, won't even risk sealed bags in my backpack!

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    #14

    Kinda minor in the greater scheme of things here for me but, in 2004 I bought a base model Honda Civic new, even had crank windows and manual transmission. My plan was to keep this car "forever" which was about 16 years in reality. The base model didn't come with a sunroof which my last car had and I really enjoyed. 16 years w/o a sunroof over a couple thousand dollars for another trim level. Yeah, I could have traded it in but it was paid off. I miss that old Honda though. They aren't the same anymore, hehe.

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    #15

    This is a very small one but super stupid. I got to school within like 5 minutes of the start of class. I was really hungry, but I didn’t have time to go eat in the school cafeteria. I asked my teacher if I could bring breakfast back to the classroom to eat, as that’s what we did last year (we didn’t have a cafeteria) she said she wasn’t sure about the rules but she would let me because of the time. So my brain said “yes, go get some breakfast, otherwise you’ll be starving in class” but my mouth, for absolutely no reason AT ALL said “oh no I wasn’t talking about today I was just wondering like hypothetically” and I went back into the classroom. And I was starving until lunch.

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    #16

    Really small compared to yalls...

    In grade the girls backpack cubby/closet had a door that was literally on its last hinge...
    For some reason my 3rd year old brain was like lets open this door instead of the stable one...
    Opened it, it broke and came right for me (for size comparison i was 2/3rds the size of the door) i jumped out of the way and the door made a huge crash sound on the floor...

    Sometimes i think i shouldve just caught the door and became the cool kid of the 3rd grade, NO! That door wouldve crushed me!

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