With each passing year, it's hard not to look back on your life, and the decisions you've made.
How you wished you'd done this or hadn't done that.
Wishing that you were brave enough to try something, or wish you'd never even heard of something you took part in.
It can be said that the time we might look back on with the most regret is our 20s, that decade of life most heavily associated with figuring out what we want to do with our lives.
Some might wish they'd accomplished more in their 20s, while others might wish they slowed things down and didn't rush into some things.
Redditor morningperzon was curious to hear from people in their 40s what advice they would give to those still enjoying the adventure that is their 20s, leading them to ask:
"People who are 40+, what’s your advice to people in their 20s?"
Be responsible
"Don't put yourself in ridiculous amounts of debt trying to portray a certain image."
"You'll spend your entire life trying to get out of the hole you dug or you'll have to declare bankruptcy."
"Set aside enough money to cover 3-6 months of expenses for emergencies just like now."
"Moreover, save now for your retirement years."
"It doesn't require much and if you have it taken directly from your paycheck you won't be inclined to not pay yourself first."
"Take care of your body."
"Exercise to maintain a healthy weight and good cardiovascular health."
"As you get older, it's much harder to maintain these."
"Enjoy the days of your youth without going overboard."
"There is nothing wrong with having a good time, yet if you are always waking up wondering what happened last night, why you can't remember how you spent so much money or you always have a hangover; you should tone it down a bit."
"Don't take advice or criticism as a personal attack."
"Most times the people who care about you have observed behavior in you which is off-putting, doesn't reflect who you really are or could be or would make you a more rounded person.- Thomasgraham76
Respect your body, make good choices
"I'm going to post this b/c I know someone young is struggling w/ addiction rn."
"Don't waste your life."
"Don't wake up at 39 and let that sh*t hit you like a ton of bricks that you've pissed away half of your life on drugs."- scorpiobw1980
Love yourself and be happy!
"Don't let yourself get out of shape."
"If you're addicted to nicotine, stop. If not, don't ever start."
"VERY few companies out there will ever give a sh*t about you."
"You should never feel any loyalty to them."
"Ask him/her/them out."
"Worst case you get a 'no'."
"Life isn't a competition, no one wins and no one gets out alive."
"Be happy as much as possible." - user deleted
Happy Season 9 GIF by The OfficeGiphyDon't be beholden to plans and expectations
"Don't fall for the trap that your life needs to be one long narrative that you should be building."
"Life is best when it's a bunch of happy moments that just happen to be connected."
"Don't try to make your life into a novel, make it a book of poems."- Ok-Wallaby9642
Save those dentist bills...
"Brush your teeth."- Dazzling-Adeptness11
"Take care of your teeth."- iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
"Floss your teeth really well, at least once a week."
"Will save you money in the future."- Otherwise_Picture_77
Teeth Tooth GIF by OllieTorresGiphyStay loose and limber
"Stretch."
"Start stretching."
"Do yoga."
"Keep stretching."
"Never get out of the habit."
"You don't have to be in the best shape to be happy, but stretching makes everything feel better, keeps it feeling good, and means that when you inevitably hurt yourself at some point in the future it's easier to recover." - User deleted
"You may feel invincible now."
"Every person in their 20s does."
"And then you hit 30."
"And you start noticing things like it hurts when you jump down the last two stairs instead of walking down them, or when you wake up, or just, from existing."
"In my 40s now, and I'm still doing just fine, and find my daily yoga practice matters more than any other exercise I've ever done."- JoshG1981
Warm Up Golf GIF by Farmers Insurance ®GiphyFind out who are your real friends
"Ghost your sh*tty friends."
"They are as much of a liability to your health and future as any other malicious factors in your life right now."
"And if you have to ask if they're a sh*tty friend, they are a sh*tty friend."
"Ghost them."
"Now."- MisterAmmosart
Save Those Pennies
"Put $ away NOW."
"You don't think old age will ever come your way, but just today you got closer to it."
"'Time goes by like hurricane, faster than a speeding train" Allman Bros.- kittykittyspank
"Start saving money even if it is only 5 or 10 dollars a week."
"Put it into a free stock account with the money tossed at a big corporation and just let it sit."- EelBitten
Pig Save GIF by Banco ItaúGiphyBottom line, live your best life!
"Save money."
"Start an investment fund."
"Develop good habits with your diet and physical activity."
"Don’t obsess over relationships or lack there of."
"Only follow your bliss if you have a good idea or plan on how you’re going to make a career out of it."
"Lastly, don’t live life virtually."
"Keep your social media in check."
"Don’t let it become your life."
"Go outside."- No-Philosopher-4793
If you have an addiction that is affecting your life deal with it now."
"Eliminate it or go to and participate in recovery."
"Lift weights and exercise."
"Your body is your temple and you will feel great in your 40s if you keep up with an exercise routine."
"Your boss does not care about you."
"You may think that you're special or talented and you very well might be."
"Your boss and your company does not care about you."
"Do your required hours and then go home, don't give extra."
"If you decide to get married, this shouldn't and isn't a thing for everyone BTW, make sure it's not just for love but to have a partner and a best friend."
"I'm so lucky I have a great wife."
"Having kids is a wonderful experience."
"While I personally think it's the best thing I've ever done it's certainly not for everyone and you will give up a lot of your personal life, hobbies, time alone and everything that you once did for yourself."
"Focus on having good people in your life."
"Eliminate the toxic people that can't change."
"Challenge yourself everyday, learn everyday and do new and exciting things."
"Travelling the world on the cheap has been a most rewarding experience."
"See and meet all different kinds of people from all walks of life."- ThorSaw
Cbs Live Your Best Life GIF by The Late Show With Stephen ColbertGiphyContinue to strive for excellence.
No matter if it kills you, make a daily routine to balance the following areas of your life."
"Studying, Work, Spirituality, Physical Fitness, and Cleanliness in environment/Stellar face/teeth/bodily grooming habits."
"Entertainment comes last, but daily if even for a 1/2 hr, so you don't binge or don't resort to toxic binge-type behavior."
"Don't drink."
"Don't do drugs ever."
"if you have, stop."
"They may expand your mind for a moment."
"But it's like making a hole in the walls of your house."
"Even when you lock your doors, something crawly can get in."
"Never take something internally that will leave you in a state more vulnerable than you already are."
"When working, make an LLC and put yourself and spouse and children on payroll."
"Set aside 1/3rd of your paycheck forever."
"1/3 rd of THAT will be used in stable return endeavors."
"Another 1/3rd will go into gold."
"Or similar store of value."
"The final 1/3rd will go into saving to buy land/real estate."
"Build your credit thru 20 levels and learn how to spend other people's money and make a profit on it."
"Work on things on a daily basis."
"Chip away slowly every day."
"This is how excellence is built."
"Never leave anything for last minute."
"Know yourself."
"STEP on your ego."
"If your ego doesn't like something, do it."
"If your ego likes something, delay it."
"Find a guide, someone to follow and learn from."
"A true master."
"Don't be so proud that you won't bend the knee to learn from masters."
"Understand your weaknesses."
"Learn from them."
"Laziness is a killer."
"Anger, Pride, Jealousy and Stubbornness will destroy you."
"Leave these."
"You don't have to control everything in other people's lives."
"Your partner or children."
"Advise, enforce but don't force. control everything in YOUR life."
"Your behavior, your speech, your actions."
"Being in control of yourself, and the ability to RELY on yourself as circumstances change around you, is a sustaining reward."
"Travel."
"Meet people from all over the world."
"You share the earth with them for a reason."
"Do not be insular."
"Share food, culture, intentions and laughter with people who look nothing like you."
"This will turn you into a real human being."
"Give back as much as you can."
"Give in a way that if you give with your right hand, your left hand is unaware."
"Beware people who compliment you."
"They want something from you."
"Learn self-defense or a martial art."
"When interacting with people on a business level."
"Meaning, money will exchange hands for a service."
"Prior to meeting with them, outline what the cost will be and what the reasonable expected result will be."
"It will make the experience easier."
"Written contract for everything that will have long-term effects on your life."
"Pictures.":
"Record video as much as you can before, during after."
"Make records of everything that can have legal repercussions, like landlord leases, buying cars, homes, business partnerships and learn to organize and preserve these digitally for easy accessibility."
"Just off the top of my head."
"Good luck."- BuzzLawldrin
Be a gracious guest
"Never show up to a party, no matter how small, empty handed."
"It doesn’t have to be expensive and it doesn’t have to be a lot."
"Just bring something in the realm of food."- melissastandard
Needless to say, life should always be about moving forward, and not looking back with regret.
Though the younger generations will no doubt be thankful 20 years from now for getting this advice.
If they listen to it, that is...
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"Sailors of reddit,what's the most unusual thing you've experienced while at sea?"
Don't Even Want To Know How It Got There...
'Out of a submarine periscope, we saw a fully inflated, pink, unicorn floaty toy."
"We were very far from any civilization."- mbreinich
blow up summergram GIF by SummerfestGiphyThe Ordinary And The Extraordinary
"We were sailing (330ft. ship) from the North Sea to west Africa."
"I was off shift and sleeping."
"I woke up and for some reason decided to go up to the bridge, which is something I usually never did when I could be sleeping or eating."
"It was night, so all the lights were off on the bridge save for a few red ones, and I noticed how bright it was outside."
"I went over to starboard and the f*cking white cliffs of Dover were completely illuminated by a full moon."
"Just beaming moonlight."
"It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen."
"Of course the mate on duty was English and was nonchalantly like 'yeah, that's Dover'."
"This one isn't me, but a Welsh guy I met in the Caribbean."
"He had done a few transatlantic trips in a small sailboat so had tons of ocean experience."
"A big storm caught him, with huge rolling waves."
"He decided to heave to to ride it out (basically using your sail and the rudder to put the brakes on and give yourself a smoother ride)."
"He was in the cockpit and was riding up one of the bigger waves."
"The next part is wild."
"He swears to god on his grandmother's grave that a giant whale just below the surface cruised up the wave beside him and just stared straight at him."
"He describes looking into this animal's huge eyeball, just looking back at him, for what was probably a couple seconds but he said felt like minutes, from a few feet away."
"He's never lied or really even exaggerated otherwise, so I believe him."
"Can you imagine seeing that?"
"Sometimes I really miss being at sea."- Zebulon_V
blue whale sea GIF by Monterey Bay AquariumGiphyLes Poissons!
"Flying fish timed a wave right and jumped out the water and through an open hatch directly into the galley."
"Freeboard was like 7 metres."
"The chefs sh*t themselves haha."- BassEvers
Not A Sight Anyone Wants To See
"I was on a run between California and Hawaii, and I was out on deck doing rounds on deck equipment, checking oil levels etc."
"I saw one of those free fall lifeboats just hanging out in the distance and was like wtf."
"I called the bridge, they said a ship accidentally dropped their lifeboat a few years ago and now it turns up from time to time."
"Was glad to know no one was on it, but it gave me a brief scare."- thecactuswrench
Heartbreaking
"Lots of crazy little things, but I was on a ship that lost a man overboard in the Atlantic."
"Reports were that a life saver was thrown immediately after he fell in, the lookout said he saw a swell overtake him as he was going toward the life saver."
"And that was it."
"We searched for hours, never seeing a single sign."
"Search lights in the water."
"Dark shaped swimming past them.'
"Makes you realize how small we are in nature."
"Still think about it to this day."- ConstantTheory255
A Literal Whale Of A Tale
"Was sailing off the coast of the big island Hawaii in February."
"We were mostly interested in fishing since the wind had died down."
"There were no other boats around that were visible and it was a very calm and peaceful day."
"Now often you'll see Humpback whales breaching in Feb and you can also hear them singing if you are underwater."
"That is cool enough, but this encounter was awesome."
"I was baiting a hook, and suddenly on the starboard side of the boat a pod of about 20 melon head whales comes up right beside the boat and they just start staring us down."
"I lean over and this one dude moves a little closer and just keeps moving his head so he can eye me up and down."
"They all just kept staring at us with an expression of 'WTF are these? Hoo interesting, don't look like they can swim at all'."
"They eyed us at close quarters for about 5 min and then just took off."
"The weirdest part of the encounter was the close eye contact I had with the first whale was definitely two individuals sizing each other up."
"Best part of the whole day."- CalEPygous
Ocean Wildlife GIF by BBC AmericaGiphyA Unique And Magical Experience
"Was gently sailing down the northeast cost of New Zealand heading into Auckland at about 2-3 am."
"I was on watch and the other crew member was asleep below."
"It was a pitch black night, no moon, and the sea was very still so as soon as you look overboard all you saw was black!"
"Eventually you saw stars but it was impossible to distinguish sea from sky."
"As I was keeping a watch I saw what I thought was a shooting star just MUCH bigger!"
"It came again and again agin until there were about 30 of these shining glittering trails shooting around the boat."
"It was very disconcerting and it took me a few minutes to click what was happening."
"We had sailed into a patch of luminescence while dolphins were swimming around the boat planing on both it and our wake."
'I had not noticed them due to it being so dark!"
"For something so simple it was a very moving almost spiritual experience and it will remain one of my all time most fondest memories!"- Smh_nz
Never Leave Port If You're Not Prepared To Do So
"French Navy navigator here."
"A few years back, went underway from Toulon on a high sea patrol ship for a routine patrol."
"The sea was very rough out of the roadstead, coming from the west, which was completely contradictory with what our weather briefs were indicating."
"Captain decided to go ahead nonetheless."
"We took a heading towards the east to enter Hyères Bay, when we entered in the pass, sh*t went down."
"I was outside, starboard wing of the bridge to take bearings when the ship took a 35 degrees list on starboard."
"If I had held my arm out, it would have been underwater."
"I held on the compass for dear life, because going overboard in that weather would have probably meant death."
"Needless to say, I sh*t myself.
"When the ship leveled, my boss went out to check if I was still there, and ordered me to go below to check how bad the damage was to some of our gear."
"I went, and when I was at the main deck, the ship took a 43 degrees list to starboard."
'I was then blessed with the horrific sight of a washing machine that was strapped in a room by the hull on portside punch a hole through the bulkhead and go straight to starboard WITHOUT touching the deck."
"Also, a lot of the firefighting equipment (axes, hoses, pumps...) was just flying all over the place, with guys from the security department desperately trying to catch it and fasten it."
"At that point, we had entered the bay and had better weather."
"We had lost electricity in the bridge and CIC, so the captain decided to wait in the bay for the weather to calm down."
'When it did the next day, we pulled back into port for repairs."
"This little escapade resulted in a few bruises, the electrical network of the bridge and CIC being badly damaged (the guys that were supposed to strap down sh*t didn't do it correctly and got punished) and for me, a reminder of my mortality."
"On a more positive note, I once saw a stork land on our 100mm turret after a sandstorm off Libya, and stay there for several hours."
"Also, we had a couple of sperm whales with a calf swimming alongside, for almost a day off Ivory Coast."
"When you see that kind of stuff, it doesn't matter if you are 3 months in or 20 years in."
"You feel like a kid again."- Hans_Von_Seemann
All Aglow
"My area occasionally gets phytoplankton blooms."
"If you're boating at night and sail into a bloom, the wake of your boat will suddenly start glowing blue."
"It's pretty darn bright, easily seen with the naked eye, and appears out of nowhere."
"One minute you're sailing in complete darkness, the next you're in glowing water."- MyNameIsRay·
climate change animation GIFGiphyLife out on the open sea is unpredictable, and sometimes scary.
But those brave enough to venture into it, always return with a story to tell.
Redditor Moist-Patience-4989 asked:
"What is a toy you always wanted growing up, but never got?"
Power Wheels
"The Barbie Jeep that you could actually ride in. But once I had kids, I bought them one (not the Barbie version, but still). And guess what? I was five pounds under the weight limit so I was able to ride in their battery-powered Jeep. I mean, it was a couple decades late, but I eventually got to do it."
- smugmisswoodhouse
"Lol I never got one of those as a kid either. It still haunts me till this day. I have no idea why but it still does. My mom bought me a car for my 16th birthday but I still bring up the freaking power wheel. I guess it really scarred me."
- Annonme123
Easy - Bake Oven
"Easy - Bake Oven"
- Antibara
"Me too. I wanted one so bad. When they came out with the real retro looking ones a while ago, I was sooo tempted. LOL"
- Real-Web8925
"I was a child of the 70s, and wanted the Holly Hobbie version. My parents were poor and/or didn't want me cooking in my bedroom, so they dodged by pointing out it was for ages 8 and up. By the time I was 8 I was cooking real food in an actual oven so the request was dropped. Still low-key want one though, entirely to indulge my inner child."
- pepperminticecream
"Easy bake oven. Parents didn’t think it was a toy for boys. I still became a baker anyways"
- Soggy-Juggernaut-569
Mini Bike
"A mini-bike like they advertised in the Sears Christmas catalog."
- XploringTheWorld
"Same. I wanted one so bad. All the guys on my street had one and to get into the woods they drove their bikes between my house and the neighbors. On our lawn! I was so pissed off they got to do it but my dad didn’t think it was safe for a girl (in 1968)."
- SnowinMiami
Tamagotchi
90S Nostalgia GIFGiphy"Always wanted a Tamagotchi"
- DuracellCosmonaut
"They were banned at my school. I think there was a bit of controversy with them at the time."
- Maso_TGN
"I have mine! Just put fresh batteries in it a couple weeks ago and I still can’t keep the dumb thing alive 😅"
- IJustWantWaffles_87
TMNT Pizza Shooter
"The ninja turtle pizza thrower van."
- Ph33r-Enigma
"My friend brought his TMNT Pizza Shooter over. We then spent the next 2 hours shooting my older sister. I asked for one and my parents (for very good reason) told me absolutely not."
- HoopOnPoop
"I just used it to shoot pizzas at my little brother. Thing was amazing
- MrJimBusiness18
American Girl Dolls
"An American Girl doll. Loved the books so much. I've been tempted to buy myself a Samantha now that she's out again, but I like the original outfit better."
- horseruth
"I read that catalogue cover to cover every time I got it (which is back when there were only three dolls and nothing ever changed). I was convinced when I grew up and had kids, my daughter would have all three dolls, each in its own room so that the historical eras didn't get mixed up. Spoiler alert: that did not happen. No kids, and my house doesn't have three extra bedrooms to devote to dolls."
- jleebeane
Castle Greyskull
he-man GIFGiphy"Castle Grayskull, from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe."
- Maso_TGN
"My brother had it and I played with my strawberry shortcake dolls in it."
- GlamSpam
"By The Power Of Grayskull, sacrilege!"
- Maso_TGN
"They actually made a new one recently, and it’s identical to the original 80’s one, just with modern details. You can get it here."
- IncreaseWestern6097
Rock Tumbler
"A rock tumbler"
- Picklesgal111
"I was looking for this one. We are two rocks in the tumbler together."
- Independent_Cut8651
"Not really a toy, but I’ve wanted a rock polishing kit for as long as I can remember and would ask for one every Christmas and birthday."
- awesquirrel
Pokédex
"a pokedex. I wanted one so bad, but NoOoOo, mom and dad thought pokemon was annoying"
- CptJaxxParrow
The Big Box of Crayons
"The Crayola 64-pack with the three metallic colors."
- wholewheatscythe
You may have missed out on these toys as a child, but the great thing about being an adult is that you can do what you want. If the toy you desperately wanted as a kid is still available, you are totally allowed to just go out and buy yourself one.
