People make mistakes their whole lives; it's just a fact.
But it's always true that those mistakes happen more often, and usually on a larger scale when you're a teenager.
That's because, once you become a teenager, you feel grown up and invincible, when the truth is, you're still learning, still growing, and still human.
Even the most successful and put-together people can look back on their teen years and cringe at the mistakes they made.
When I was a teenager, I made horrible choices, from stealing my mother's credit card to letting my wild child best friend shear off my hair. At least I learned my lesson!
Curious about mistakes others made in their teen years, a Redditor asked:
"what was your biggest Teenage mistake?"
Some of the responses were wild!
Ouch!
"Doing an unsuccessful backflip on a trampoline"
– TamaraVargasFR
Brush, Brush, Brush Your Teeth
"Not taking better care of my teeth"
– LedTasso69
"Honestly if there are any teenagers in here who don’t understand this yet, please know that your teeth will fall apart if not taken care of properly. You will pay for it and it won’t be fun at all."
– SoothsayerRecompense
If Only You Knew
"Sold $200 worth of Bitcoins to a friend for tickets to a music festival back in 2011."
– Spaceman_Beard
"Now THAT is a worthy regret. I don’t know exactly how much that would be worth now but I’m thinking a minimum a decent 6-figure amount and maybe even as much as 7 figures. Maybe I’m even underestimating it."
– FightPhoe93
The Inevitable Car Stories
"I took my uncle's beautiful restored classic car for a drive when I didn't have a license and got it impounded."
– throwawaysmetoo
"How many fingers of yours did he break?"
– koloros
"I wrecked my cousins new car & didn’t have my license yet."
– Golfnpickle
The One That Got Away
"Not getting the hint that my friend, the beautiful Patricia, wanted to be WAY more than friends."
– dwane1972
"Her name was Kate and 15 years later , I can pin point the exact second I should have kissed her on the beach."
– aussie_nobody
"I did the same mistake, except it was with a Sarah. She was gorgeous and probably well out of my chubby nerd friend zone league, but we shared the same bench in school for five years and knew us quite well. She was at my place once. Spontaneously, it wasn't. It was a mess. She fell back on my bed and said it smelled so good. I thought it was dirty because it was long overdue to change the blankets. I think I ruined my chance right there and then."
"I always wanted to ask her about that time, maybe when we would meet on a class reunion, if the chance would have come up at least, but unfortunately she died last year under unclear circumstances."
– DividedState
Life Of Crime
"I robbed a gas station. ⛽️"
– pauluzu
"How did that go?"
– harlotScarlett
"Considering the gas prices nowadays it's propably like robbing multiple banks"
– LordoftheDimension
We Couldn't Have Been Warned Away
"Marrying my 18-year-old self to a 40-year-old who'd been grooming me for three years, just to spite my mother."
0/10, would not recommend."
– Late_Again68
"I have a friend who did exactly the same thing. But no one could have told her differently. I tried, her family... now she has 5 kids and is recently divorced. At least she got out."
– Decent-Obligation-43
School Is Serious
"Treating highschool as a obligation and not a opportunity. Not just social but economical gains and your own development are way greater effected by how you view your highschool years."
– likea_yeti
"maybe every day or at least every other day i think to my self “i wish i would have taken high school way more seriously, and not just gone through the motions.” This will be a HUGE point of emphasis on my raising my son."
– kingnt3
Be Like The Cool Kids
"Getting addicted to smoking very early"
– SuvenPan
"Same man, I started smoking around 13 and am still trying to quit nicotine now at 25. I can barely run a mile despite being in generally decent shape from a physique and strength perspective, and my resting heart rate is over 100. I know I’ve still got time to undo a lot of the damage, but does it suck to know how deep a hole I’ve dug myself because I wanted to fit it with some “cool” kids and then developed an addiction as a crutch to avoid dealing with my mental health."
– impossiblyirrelevant
Money, Money, Money
"Spending a large inheritance I got when I was 18 in 2009. Could of owned a property outright by now"
– bKingas
"I blew through one at 21 and was kicking myself for years."
– nelsonalgrencametome
"This is why I will make any large inheritance to young family members a trust. You can't spend it all at once and it won't get fully released until 30 when hopefully you've got yourself together."
– passed_turing_test
Those teenage years can be hard. The important thing is, you recognize your mistakes and learn from them.
Do you have similar experiences to share? Let us know in the comments below.
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