We start experiencing FOMO from a very young age. Mostly because kids love to dare each other to do dumb things for some reason.

​Thanks, Dad.

When I was a kid the cool, older neighbor kids (also young kids) told me to eat grass. I of course didn't want to, so they told me they all did and I would be cool if I did. So I picked a big handful and ate it while everyone laughed at me.

Afterwards it came out that none of them had, in fact, ate any grass at all, and, as it turns out, none of us knew what would happen if one were to eat grass.

So I ran home where my old man was in the backyard spraying something with a garden hose.

I said "hey dad what would happen if somebody ate a big handful of grass?"

He replied, absolutely deadpan "tell me you didn't eat grass."

I said "well no but somebody else did and I was just..."

He said, "Gristle... Tell me you didn't eat grass..."

Tears started welling up and I said "well I was running real fast and I fell and when I fell my mouth landed on a clump of grass and my mouth closed on it and I accidentally swallowed a whole bunch of it and... Am I gonna die?!?"

He said "Probably. But go in and drink as much water as you can stand and then I will take you to the hospital"

I ran inside and drank as much water as I could and rushed out to the van where the old man was waving me into the open door. We flew out of the neighborhood, screaming towards the hospital while I cried in the back seat. Finally, we got to the liquor store down the street from the hospital where the old man said, "nah I'm just messing with you. You'll be fine."

And he went in and bought beer and we drove home.

GristleMcThornbody1

​Welcome to the theatre kids cult.

I joined my friends in auditioning for the musical in senior year of high school because i just happened to be friends with a lot of theatre kids. Ended up with a supporting role including a duet and a decent amount of lines.

I still consider it one of the best decisions I ever made. It was a crazy amount of fun.

Rapsculio

​Dang, kids are savage.

Ate ten ants to join my brothers club in first grade. Said I could only join if I ate ten ants. So I did. And then he disbanded the club.

Rainqueen

Of course he did. Who wants to be in a club with members who eat ants?

Gaviidae

​FOMO can lead to some death-defying stunts. Use your own best judgement on these.

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FOMO > fear of heights.

Ziplines. I have a fear of heights so I was very nervous about going on them in North Carolina with my friends. They were so supportive though talking about how, "Its ok, you dont have to go we understand" or "Of course you dont have to, I just think you would actually enjoy it". It was because they were so nice about it I really didnt want to disappoint them. I had an absolute blast on them by the way. So much fun after the first 5 seconds of terror on the first line haha.

T3ch-R0m4nc3r

​Remind me to never do this.

One of those muddy races. Got a skin infection and sun poisoning.

Arayabe

As others have said, I did the race.. some mud splashed right in my eyes. Not a single volunteer had water or tissues to wipe it. Ended up using the only clean spots I could find on my friends shirt. Then they didn't have enough buses to get everyone back to the parking and it rained and was freezing cold for hours waiting outside. By the time I got home my eyes were in terrible shape and scratched from the little pebbles in the mud.

Squatfarts

​Good call.

Smoking, I guess? I got curious. First time I hated it. After a few more, I started to like it, so I decided to throw the rest away before it was too late.

Roozyj

I did the same but it took a year or so for me to want to quit cuz I told myself I was just a "social smoker," but in hindsight whenever I'd be stressed out or drinking for years after I'd crave a cigarette. Now the whole thing is pretty gross to me and can't stand the smell.

Mssaaa

​Unfortunately, the biggest setbacks to preventing FOMO is the amount of money you drop on whatever adventure that may be.

A risky gamble.

Pretty much every sports bet I've ever made.

When you see something like England to score 10 goals against Gibraltar, the idea of them scoring 10 and you not placing the bet is substantially worse than the idea of you placing the bet and them not scoring 10. The trick is just not to look in the first place.

-SHORSEY-

​At least you had fun.

Gambling. I lost $70 and had a lot of fun. Not sure I wanna lose $70 anytime again soon tho.

Dino_jay

The thing with gambling is that if you go in with a) the right attitude (assuming you will lose everything that you gamble), b) a fixed limit, and c) self-control, it can be fine. It can be like going to see a movie (albeit an expensive one). You are spending a bit of money for the thrill and the experience. And if you do come out with more money, hey that's cool.

The problems occur when people assume they will win, gamble beyond their initial budget, or let the thrill overtake them and gamble too often/gamble too much.

It sounds like you did it right.

BraxistExtremist

This is so messed up.

Bought a $20 raffle ticket for a much hyped-up chance to win $5,000.

Turns out the raffle promoters were scammers and everyone lost their money.

Back2Bach

​The best things in life are free.

For my 30th birthday I tried 30 new things. The list included a pedicure and manicure, fancy Starbucks drink, driving a red Porsche, gambling at the casino. It was a crazy fun day but I learned that I have a great life without all that stuff.

Unmgrad

Preventing FOMO is a huge gamble at times. If you didn't enjoy doing the thing, was it worth it in the first place? Or did you just end up covered in mud and with a sun infection?

Hey, at least you didn't miss out.