People Over 30 Share Their Biggest Regrets In Life

Life goes by in a flash.

When we're young, we tend to laugh off that statement.

But it is one of the truest and harshest life lessons to swallow.

Every moment is fleeting.

That would be my departing wisdom.

I've had some great times, and I've also made terrible mistakes.

I can't change it.

I would if I could.

But onward and upward we go. Right?

Redditor rebelliousbrownie9 wanted to hear life lessons from the over-30 crowd, so they asked:

"People above 30, what's your biggest regret?"

WASTED

"Time wasted on things/people, but also learnt that there’s no point in regretting things in life, as it will just eat you up."

"You can’t change what’s happened in the past, so what’s the point?"

- AyySisu

Snail Ugh GIF by Sticker Book iOS GIFs Giphy

Say Bye Sooner!

"Letting toxic people stay in my life for too long, I’ve now kicked them out of my life, but wish I did it years ago!!"

- gentleglowup

"I think to piggyback a bit but to take this a little differently, when you're young, toxic people or not, you hold onto people's opinions of you at every whim."

"By 30, I realized I'm not for everybody, and everybody's not for me, and that's okay."

"The old saying comes to mind... 'Be who you are, and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.'"

- Murfdigidy

Go Alone

"I didn't do a lot of fun things because none of my friends could go with me. I missed out on concerts, conventions, festivals, museums, and travel, all because I felt like I couldn't have fun unless I had a buddy. Now my friends have the money and time for adventures, but we're old and we get tired/sore too fast. I'm an independent person, and I wish I had just been brave enough to go it alone."

- itsjustmo_

SAVE! SAVE SAVE!

"Not starting a retirement plan as soon as I was out of college. Compound interest is a powerful thing, but you gotta start it as early as possible."

- el_mustango

"What’s worse is going through those years knowing what I was missing out on in the future, but no way in hell I was affording to put money away during that period of life."

- lackHawksHockey

"I wasn't taught financial literacy, and even though I've always been responsible with savings and money management, I've lost so much potential earnings over two decades. My parents didn't teach me, and public schools obviously don't provide the education either."

"Now at 40, I've learned a lot about investing strategies and now have 100k in my 401k."

- Seastep

Growing Up

"Thinking I'd never be 30."

- TimeAdmirable

"WTF! This! Regardless of what anyone says about brain development, there is indeed a sense of living in the perpetual present in your late teens to early 20s that completely shifts at some point once you realize time is going faster than it’s ever gone before. In youth, we feel invincible to time. To me, adulthood is a process of realizing we’re not. We tend to think about the future once it’s too late."

- Happy-Investigator-

Less is More

"Less people pleasing, more focus on self and finances. Live life and do your best to not be buried as the richest body in the graveyard!"

- HowToSuckA**

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Precautions

"Taking my health for granted."

- DekeJeffery

"Preserve your back, your ears, and your eyes."

"Don't lift heavy loads without a good lifting position, wear ear protection when you go to concerts, wear rest glasses while looking at screens."

"Do that in your 20s and 30s and you should avoid pain/complications in your 50s (and more)."

- P0werFighter

"Same. At 33, I now have three autoimmune diseases, endometriosis, a removed gallbladder, and survived a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. I’m tired, boss."

"I wish I had traveled more in my 20s when I was healthy. Now, when I take my kid to Disneyland, I’ll have to rent a wheelchair."

- Moal

Gut Check

"Dimming my light for someone who never ever deserved it, and staying far too long. Trust your gut."

- whippinfresh

"Let me share some thoughts on the interplay between individual and collective goals. Building on what others have said, the incremental elements stand out. When you examine quality assurance, mapping out the key factors, the picture becomes clearer. I'm persuaded by the idea there's significant potential here for incremental innovation."

- IDontWannaGetOutOfBe

Dryer Days

"Drinking so much in my 20s and 30s. I wish I could have just been more moderate and carefree instead of relying on alcohol to feel liberated from my anxiety."

- Questjon

"Yeah, this is basically my mentality at nearly 40."

"I’ve probably spent gazillions on booze over the years, but don’t really regret it. I just keep it sensible (except on rare occasions) now and occasionally look back and cringe/chuckle."

- what_is_blue

"I drank that entire decade away, rehabbed, and got sober at 30. Playing catch-up at 32. I wasted so much of my life."

- mistercolebert

Necessary Walls

"Not learning to set boundaries with people in my life. In almost every relationship I have —whether family, social, or work-related —I’m constantly giving and now expected to keep giving. Rarely anything in return."

- RunningOnEmpty231

"My wife spent years taking care of her dad, a sociopath and a drinker. He would constantly manipulate by playing on her conscience, expecting her to be there no matter the time of day or whatever else she was doing. It took her so many years to realize how much he was destroying her well-being, that he didn’t care about her at all as long as he got what he wanted/needed."

It was just so deeply ingrained in her that family comes first, that family is something you have to have in your life, no matter what. She’s in a so much healthier place now."

- mcbugge

Play...

"It snowed, and I went to work instead of staying home and playing with my child. It never snowed again before she was an adult."

- high_pants13

"That's a beautiful regret."

- Redditor438

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Learn

"I guess I wish I had become good at studying at an earlier age. But I just can't have regrets because the mistakes I made were what made me who I am today. Of course, I didn't know what to do in certain situations in life; I was young."

- AnjouRey

"Just like you, I think the mistakes I made made me who I am today. So I have no regrets."

- Vanamelone

"I don’t think the education system does a good enough job in teaching children how to learn."

- OkPosition20

FOCUS

"Not putting enough effort into finding a career/lifestyle I actually like, and subsequently being locked into a career (because of loan debt) that I hate. Trying to figure out what you want to spend your time doing is difficult, and exploration is scary, but you will regret not forcing yourself to do it in your 20s when everything is still possible."

- Tank_Direct

Take your time...

"I am 40F. I got married at 26 and I wish I’d waited until I was 35."

- classicicedtea

"My mother always told me not to get married before I’m 30. I’m almost 30 now, and I totally get it. A lot of my friends married the first person they seriously dated in high school or college, which is not representative of the real world, and one you enter before you even know who you are. I’m thankful I didn’t take that path and just moved across the country instead."

- GUlysses

Stay the Course

"Not choosing a career path and sticking to it, never really knew what I wanted to, and still don't really. But if I'd spent all that time sticking to one thing, I know I could have gone far(ish)."

- joezeff

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What have we learned?

Focus on yourself before others.

And when focusing on others, make sure they're the right kind of people who deserve your time.

Time is not a given.

That feeling is never fully realized until it's too late.

I wish there were a way for the under-30s to really understand that lesson.

But... don't fret, as long as you're breathing, one can always begin again.