Older and Seasoned Members among us, if you could go back to your 20's, what would you do different

I'm 27 years old, and follow current events, as well as discussions on ATS very closely, and have for a few years. I must say, it is getting tougher to have a positive outlook on life. I see fewer and fewer opportunites for my generation, and know many my age with degrees, who can't find a halfway decent job relating to their degree. It's almost impossible to pay for a car, rent/mortgage, health insurance, or higher education which is getting more important by the day. This doesn't take into account supporting a family, vacations, or saving for the future, which many of our parents were able to do. A little depressing to say the least.

So my question to those of you who have more life experience than my generation, in knowing what you know now, what would you do differently if hypothetically, tomorrow you woke up and were 25 years old again? Maybe you have a son or daughter in their twenties. What advice do you offer them?

I just don't see much hope for the future of our generation, and one big problem is that my generation doesn't seem interested in politics, or current events. They're more interested in material items, which club to go to on the weekend, and in general seem to live in a bubble which they have zero interest in escaping from.

Yet, even the older generation who frequent this forum, who have a house and money saved in the bank, and more life experience, are talking about fleeing the country, or finding a way to live off the grid. Corruption is out of control, our political system is broken, and we rarely, if ever, hear politicians talk about improving the circumstances for our generation. They only appear to be concerned with saving the money and investments which my generation doesn't have. Sounds greedy and selfish to say the least. And if older generations are having a tough time coping, and don' have a positive outlook, what does that say for the younger people here? Doom and gloom?

I would skip the first wife, get more college degrees and stay SINGLE until 35

reply to post by CaDreamer


I would buy that GTO I passed on.beautiful car.Would have gone back and finished school when my dad retired and took over caring for mom.

I know the age of adulthood "consent" is primarily 18 in this country, however men aren't really mature mentally til aprox mid 30's. OP don't expect mature behavior from your friends as a collective for a few years yet. sounds as though you are ahead of the curve. find your own path, no two paths are the same

i would get a university degree. while i have never needed it to work in my own country,

i did need it to apply for a working visa in Japan.

everything else is part of who i am today. i wouldn't change any of it.

I would take advantage of the gold mine of opportunity that was sitting in front of me.
(Luckily I got a 2nd chance -lost a lot tho)
Save a lot of money; invest in real estate - which was the thing to do then. - could have made a fortune there.
I forget about getting married.
Absolutely skip having children.
Gone to school evenings.
Stuck with my music and art. (could have been a whiz by now)
Retire in timely fashion and just do art and music.
And cruise carefree to the end.

Originally posted by CaDreamer
I know the age of adulthood "consent" is primarily 18 in this country, however men aren't really mature mentally til aprox mid 30's. OP don't expect mature behavior from your friends as a collective for a few years yet. sounds as though you are ahead of the curve. find your own path, no two paths are the same

edit on 17-2-2011 by CaDreamer because: typo

My biggest fear relating to my generation is that I don't think we'll have the collective capability to repair, and later prosper from, the economic and political environemt we'll encounter 10-15 years down the road. I really don't have much faith in my generation at all, as sad as that may sound.

reply to post by CaDreamer


Ditto, but first husband, and keep my little girl.

Focus on what makes you happy. What makes you feel *alive*.

Less drugs.

Not get married.

Move out of state.

Knowing what I do now,
I would have patented the Internet!

Two of the responses so far mention not getting married, and one mentions not having kids. Is that really the world we live in now, where having a wife and/or children might not be a smart decision? Might severely limit future options?

I would think it would be pretty tough to be happy in life if having a family isn't financially feasable, and some are advising against it. Definitely not the world my parents gew up in.

I would have lived at home and put every damn dime into gold and called some clown named Bill Gates. Other than that, nothing to change.

reply to post by MysticPearl


Marriage is a financial contract that is a living hell. Having half your assets taken and your life destroyed is not fun.

As far as children, I don't regret a thing. They have enriched my life and taught me patience.

I think finding relevant work experience at a young age is far more important (for us Gen Y-ers) than obtaining any tertiary qualifications (unless you're committed and got into med/astrophysics etc).
At least that's the case while our current social and economic paradigms fall in on themselves; It seems to me as though we've entered a period of time where jobs are just going to keep getting harder to come by until enough people wake up and currency is abolished (but hey, 2 years? 20 years? For now a brother needs $$).

It's hard enough to find a job, let alone one relevant to most degrees - no employer is going to take someone with an irrelevant degree over someone who can demonstrate 4 years of prior work commitment.
Don't get me wrong, obviously learning is probably the single most important thing anybody can do for themselves, but I think in current times formal "education" needs to sit on most people's pursuit backburners (from a financial perspective).

I'm 21 and I've been working for municipal governement since I was 19 (in as many roles as I've been able to) in an effort to secure my employment prospects for the future, whilst undertaking units of interest (chem/english) through correspondence universities.
I will study seriously/travel soon, but only once I'm near futureproof (employment-wise).

I would have started a savings account.

Figure out what career would be enjoyable, probably trades of some sort, or real estate, instead of what I did take which I wasn't cut out for and now I have that dam student loan still.

For the career sake, I would cut and dye that long blond hair, because when you're a young woman, with a small build, and long blond hair, employers and many others will not take you serious. When I hit late 40, was when I decided to be a brunette, and was quite surprised at the difference in the way people treated me. I never believed the "blond" jokes, but it sure showed that others did. People are strange that way.....

I would have stayed in Europe and not have come back.
I would have taken more advantage of job/career opportunities at that age.
I'm happy I a not married to an american woman. I might have married a foreigner since the ones I knew were very stable.
I don't regret not having kids because without a stable marriage there is no way I could have given them 100% of myself.
I would have done less or no drugs.
I would have NEVER gone to a psychiatrist.
I would have spent more time learning and doing artistic and creative things.
I would have gotten my Masters, not stopping at bachelors in college.
I would have abstained from almost all alcohol.
I would have travelled the world much more.
I would try to invent a machine to slow down time (because life goes by so fast... the end is closer than you think)

I would avoid like the plague the sexy red head who I ended up engaged to and had a daughter to, who I never see because she turned out to be a bunny boiler... Instead I'd have stayed on in Uni instead of being forced to find work to support a family...

Oooooo you have made a thread about my -obsession--!!!
At 25 I was still in the Air Force, so I can't say that I would elect to NOT have gone in (but if I could go back to age 20, like No way...) At 28 I got out and came back home. I then proceeded to make ALL MY PRIORITIES ****WRONG**** . Knowing what I know now: I would not have focused on trying to snare a boyfriend who was into ufos like I was. I would have focused SOLELY STRICTLY AND OBSESSIVELY on becoming ****stable and secure**** in a job I liked and quiet apartment. I have disabilities that make me ---intolerent--- of noise, and I am people avoidant, but when younger, this was not nearly as pronounced as it is now. I have become disabled by the extreme stress of relentless adversity, wrought by my wrong priorities due to ignorance. (Seeing through a glass darkly.) I probably would have stayd in a lone security nightwatch'man' job, of which there were assorted to choose from, which there are not now, due to technology. I had gotten some but threw them away, because I was making landing a boyfriend with commonalities, my priority (even though I was also suffering from undiagnosed unacknowledged depression) so that the schmuck would rescue me. Guess what they do with the free 'cow'? (Milk it...) I would save save save save money, and try to figure out how to become a rich entreprenur via my artistic abilities. Buy me a house on several acres. Then focus on my physical appearance and inner self.

Without being specific my only regrets were not following through on wild ideas, urges or business opportunities. Granted I've made my fair share of some very poor choices and made horrible mistakes, but I've learned from every one. It is the numerous times I was afraid to take a leap of faith I regret since I've always been haunted by the "what ifs"

In short I regret the things I didn't do more than those I did. Advice: Always follow your dreams.

ETA: Life is full of chance encounters and missed opportunities every single day. Choosing to act on them or ignoring them can be the difference between a lifetime shared or a fleeting moment passed. (Please watch until end)