Thread: If you can go back in time, what is one thing you would change?

Say you could go back in time to one event or choice you made in your life, what would be the one thing you would like to change that could have impacted your life for the better?

I would go back to when I was younger and made the choice to eat healthier earlier on in life so I could have spared all the health issues I have been dealing with for the last 10 years. I was one of those teens who ate junk or didn't eat much at all. I went through a phase of starving myself to stay thin. It ended up screwing up my hormones so much that I am still trying to fix them today.

Probably nothing. I've faced inevitabilities. Ticking time bombs. Even if I changed something for the better they would have happened anyway. Plus, I believe in the butterfly effect. The theory is pretty much that changing just one thing could alter history almost entirely. It's a ripple effect. What if the world ends up being shittier as a result? Not gonna have that on my conscience.

Go back to 2009 and put every dollar I have into Bitcoin.

I think I would take the opportunity to go back in time and give my younger self a beating as well as a long hard talk to prevent myself from doing all the cringey shit I did when I was younger.

Originally Posted by Zemekis

Go back to 2009 and put every dollar I have into Bitcoin.

How many dollars did you have in 2009? Sure, a few hundred would have become sizable...

Originally Posted by Mantis

How many dollars did you have in 2009? Sure, a few hundred would have become sizable...

~25k i think

I wouldn't do it if I had to deal with impacts.

But for sake of argument, it be my first job after university in 2015 April

I wouldn't take it and instead take the insurance job in Portland, OR and live there.

But looking at it now, in 2020, I really am glad I did return back to Texas and work at the crappy job because I met my wife in Houston at church.

So silver lining.

Plus Portland is going through some real shit.

But it really sucks when your first job out of university lays you off due to oil market (crude oil dropped from $50/barrel to $26/barrel).

But i have been very blessed in being proactive and leveraging my network.

Originally Posted by Zemekis

~25k i think

Inheritance?

Originally Posted by Mantis

Inheritance?

Surprisingly, no. I started investing all of my birthday/Christmas money from age 7 onwards. When I was 9 I began mowing lawns and invested that as well + part time jobs as a teen. I have my parents to thank for explaining stocks to me at a very young age. I got kind of addicted to reading the quarterly reports to see how much I made on dividends, it was such a cool idea to me that someone would pay me just to hold onto my money.

While it wasn't nearly as easy as getting a lump sum from a family member, I will say that I had 2 advantages others might not have had at my age. The first is that my family was well-off enough that I could save 100% of my money and still have food, clothes, etc. The 2nd is that my parents understood stocks/investing and took the time to teach a 7 year old kid about them which must have been a headache.

Well, if I could go back in time... I wouldn't change anything. We are the sum of our experiences (good or bad) and by altering the past we would unavoidably change our present selves in the process.

Though... I wouldn't mind buying some Asian films which are out of print now...