excellent advise from Vinnie!                                                                                                                                                                              

My Advise to myself would be don't change for anyone, just be who you want to be, if someone tries to change you, then they don't want to be with you, they just want someone to be with. Also, don't cut off all your hair you stupid idiot, it takes ages to grow back!

Revisits earlier advice to self:

Aim for the unattainable, but make sure you concentrate on enjoying the ride.   It's the journey that counts. 
                                                                                                                                                                             

if someone tries to change you, then they don't want to be with you, they just want someone to be with.     Wouldn't change my missus for owt                                                                                                                                                                             

Life throws  all the crap at us  to make us who we are ! We would be a boring set of peeps if we could undo sum of that! So I for one am happy with my lot and looking 4ward to the next lot of crap !LOL                                                                                                                                                                              

pmsl ruby.  Do you find yourself thinking? hmmmm, life's been running smoothly for a while and not had any proper shovels-full of poo thrown at me recently...gonna be a great big dump truck full hitting me soon!   I know I do                                                                                                                                                                              

Can work both ways...you can be as happy as a pig in poo ...that way you won't mind how much is shoveled your way....hehe                                                                                                                                                                              

It is hard one...but would we even listen to the advice if it was given......when you are young and mess up, you already knew it was a going to be a mistake before you did it....but that's what being young is all about....we learn from it...

But I must admit it would be nice to have the choice of a different decision....to spend more precious time with loved ones no longer with us......which I will regret until the day I leave this place myself....

Oh and also I would advise myself to knock 10 bells of shit out of a couple of people who deserved it a long time ago lol

I agree with you there johnnytb.. my advice to my younger self would be to 'LISTEN'.   As like most young adults/adolescents, they tend to follow their peers, not the sound advice of their parent (s), family, teachers, or significant others..  They 'hear' what is being said, but they rarely 'listen'.   I know its a horrible word to use, or say in any given situation, but I hated school with a passion and I would go the most ridulous lengths to avoid it .  It comes as no surprise that when the official day/year/time came for me to leave the God forsaken place, I did so without any qualifications and no career prospects.. A rebel without a clue!   I know through life experiences and having children of my own, that you can never put an old head on young shoulders, and while it may not apply to all, I'm sure the vast majority of us would have done things differently if we had the chance.  Reality is we cannot turn back the clock (tick tock), but we CAN be positive with our future.   I often wish I had knuckled down as it cost me dearly in the long run.. playing 'catch up' was not easy and it made life more difficult than it ever really needed to be.                                                                                                                                                                                                 

So how did you acquire your excellent grammar?   I assume 'ridulous' was a typo.                                                                                                                                                                             

Ooops! yes XKL, a typo indeed.  One of many I'm afraid.. Grammar, punctuation, spelling etc, not being a strong point, although one of the least 'ridiculous' errors of my time!..       I've enjoyed reading all the posts so far.. Vinnie you make me smile ..                                                                                                                                                                                

I agree minnie!! And I await the next big dump truck !LOL                                                                                                                                                                              

Some great replies. Thank you for taking the time and the trouble to add thought and substance to the thread.   Just one observation to add (if i may be so bold).   The process of the forward motion of years happens regardless, we are mere pedestrians locked within the treadmill of our own experiences. The destination is pre-set, only the journey's pathways, our kept company along the way and to a degree, the speed of the terminus racing to greet us, is within our control.    It is my belief that the largest asset to our years ahead are our years past and the greatest way of utilising those assets is to revisit them and with the benefit of hindsight, gain from the experience of witnessing how different our pathways could have been.   It is also my belief that, as an exercise in looking back, it becomes apparent that this present moment of reminiscing is inevitably destined to become a past and that yet another future will once again present to us with questions on a platter awaiting to be garnished by the clarity of hindsight. Perhaps looking back achieves nothing for as already said, what we were makes us what we are today but then equally so, what we are today makes us what we will be tomorrow, the pivotal balance to the past and the future i suppose is in our present hands. It seems logical to me that a clarity born from detailing self advise from the eyes of the present through to the deeds of the past, is destined to become a worthy time capsule for our future selves.   Again..Thank you very much for participating thus far. I look forward to reading more (said in hopeful anticipation).   ...icey                                                                                                                                                                             

So .... she ponders on,  starting to enjoy the challenges of the mid life crisis.  And that bit of time for reflection that appears to have been delivered from nowhere in particular - where did that come from?.

Notes so far.   It seems to be about the journey.  And about happiness.   And about time.   And about looking ahead whilst checking your rearview mirror every so often.  

Bit of research into happiness reveals the following:
“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
Herman Cain
 
“Happiness is a function of accepting what is.”
Werner Erhard
 
“It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
 
“There are hundreds of languages in the world, but a smile speaks them all.”
Unknown
 
“The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.”
Mark Twain
 
“People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
Abraham Lincoln
 
“A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.”
Hugh Downs
 
“If you're going to be able to look back on something and laugh about it, you might as well laugh about it now.”
Marie Osmond
 
“The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.”
Unknown
 
“Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.”
Roy Goodman
 
“Our happiness is greatest when we contribute most to the happiness of others.”
Harriet Shepard
 
“To be able to find joy in another's joy, that is the secret of happiness.”
George Bernanos
 
“Don't cry when the sun is gone, because the tears won't let you see the stars”
Violeta Parra
 
“Before you talk about what you want - Really appreciate what you have before it's gone.”
Ethan Daniel
 
“Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one's own sunshine.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
“Dont cry because its over, smile because it happened.”
Unknown


Can't really believe there's a quote in there from Marie Osmond but - hey!

I'm still trying to figure out where the bikes come in. 

Eureka!

If it's about the way of travel, then surely bikes are one of the keys.  We can choose our bikes.   We can decide what they look like; what colour they are; whether they're fat or thin; whether they're built for comfort or built for speed.   It's one bit of the journey that we can control. 

Hmmmm.   What does your bike say about you, and your selected way of travel?

Answers on a Red Sea Scroll please.

Nice post lawnmower.   I like your style and there's some lovely quotes there (good find).     I hope that this day brings an abundance of happiness in to your life.   Kind regards and warm wishes...     ..icey                                                                                                                                                                             

Revisits advice to former self (again)!

Lost two very close family members.  The single thing I wish I could have done a lot more of was tell them how much I love them.  Not expect them to know because of my actions.   Sometimes a kiss just isn't enough.

This mid life crisis stuff is hard work!!!

so....going back to my post at the begining of this thread... 'we are the sum of our experiences'.... we have learnt much along lifes pathway and it shapes every moment,every decision,every comment.. we are constantly evolving as life shapes us..for better or worse.. So I draw the answer to the question posed by this thread from the thread itself... If you could change anything what would it be? answer is; to be born with the knowledge of life my parents and grandparents reaped all through their lives! I imagine life would be so much easier forearmed with such priceless experience.                                                                                                                                                                             

I think people would change alot in there lives but its the consequences of what would change, l wish l would never of got married, but the consequnces would be l wouldnt have my 3 grown up children and all my grand children so being born with the knowledge of what your life is going to turn out like wouldnt help, l dont think many people would want to change there lives, its fate what will happen will happen,
people come and go out of our lives we have good times and bad times but we should think ourselves lucky that we have a chance to live and love, we lose plenty of friends, family and loved ones along the way, but we will never forget them, and the memories are extremely priceless
                                                                                                                                                                             

My advice to my young self would be BUY THE BLOODY BIKE... Would have saved me so much trouble if i'd hav chucked my leg over a bike instead of my daughters dad lol!

Saying that i really don't regret that much....i dont regret my kids just my choice of dad, don't regret the relationships except my abysmal choice of blokes and if i'd hav known then what i know now i'd hav done a biomedical science degree instead of social work and been a doc instead of a nurse....

I'd much rather make mistakes and have 'doh' moments than take the safest options....i'd rather get to 90 and have the nurses in stitches about the things i've done :-) and believe me some of them make me laugh out loud, blush and cringe but i wouldnt hav done anything differently x

Dont waste your time hating people, Its like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die