It's the job of good parents to push their children to try new things. Now, sometimes hey don't always like that new thing, either because it's incredibly boring or because it's cutting into our Saturday morning cartoon time. It's not like there's some easy way for me to record the new episode of Power Rangers, mom! I don't want to go to little league practice...
Maybe they want you to try new things because that's the optimum time to try new things. As a child you're limitless, capable of falling off a house and getting right back up. Of course now is the time to give that new hobby or activity a go.
Until you stop.
Reddit user, u/Boogerman83, wanted to hear about what you gave up when they asked:
What is something you quit as a kid and now wish you continued?
Wait, How Old Is Twitch?
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I used to stream in the early days of twitch and got around 20-30 viewers, always wondered where I would be if I didn't stop.
Damn 20-30 viewers is actually really good. I know there are a lot of good streamers out there who typically have none, and I always look up to them for grinding it out.
Imagine If You Never Stopped
Collecting coins.
Nowadays I'm back to it though, but I wish I had accumulated them through the years.
Get That Elementary School Hustle
Trying to make as much money as possible. I quit doing it for my sanity when I became an adult.
Now I have no money and no sanity.
I think balance is the most important thing. I know people who work themselves to death and never have time to spend their hard earned cash. I try to work hard, but I set limits so that I keep mentally and financially healthy.
Maybe Do A Little More Research Next Time, Mom...
Swimming. My mom took me out as soon as I was puberty aged (because she doesn't know how tampons work and honestly she's a lil afraid of them) but I miss being in the water
Useful In So Many Areas Of Life
Piano. I'm competent at other instruments, but I wish I had kept up with it. So versatile.
Definitely this. And all because my mom was such hard a-- disciplinarian about it. I really liked it at first and was really good, and eventually it basically became a punishment. YOU WILL COME DIRECTLY HOME FROM SCHOOL AND YOU WILL PLAY THAT DAMN PIANO AND BY THE TIME I GET HOME IF THAT SONG ISN'T PERFECT YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT THE SLEEPOVER SATURDAY.
There were nights that I'd be sitting there in tears, shaking, terrified because a song I was assigned was too difficult and my mom would be there screaming in my ear what a lazy embarrassment I was. In my early teens I was given the choice to keep going or not and it was the easiest decision I ever made. Thanks for ruining a healthy hobby and the life time of anxiety mom!
Put One Word After The Other
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I used to write stories constantly. I got discouraged when a family member I looked up to told me they were silly and no one would ever buy them. When I was a kid all I wanted to be was an author. Now I'm 40 and have had writer's block for decades.
Connecting To Your Youth The Only Way You Know How
Track and field. I found out later in life that I love running.
It's annoying that most track meets are geared towards youth. Not everyone finds road racing enjoyable/suitable to their body type/cost effective. Fortunately there are a lot of meets open to older athletes. You just have to be okay doing it for your own purposes. Doesn't matter how the other athletes, much older and much younger, are performing in your heat. You're doing this for you.
Under The Sheets, By Flashlight, Until Mom Came In
Reading books. I would get so absorbed into them and I was doing well in school due to it. I regret stopping it
I had the same thing. Once I was forced to read, it was less fun. But I just told myself one day that I'm gonna read for 10 minutes before bed each night and also installed an app called "Streaks" to remind myself and track that I read. Almost two years in, I've only missed maybe 10-15 days of reading.
The first hurdle though is getting back into it. Try reading a book you loved as a kid—it'll be a nice, easy read and will bring you right back.
Just Pick Up A Pencil Every Day
Drawing
Came to post the same thing. I had a gift and let it rust.
It's So Easy, Right? So. Much. Running. Everywhere.
Staying in shape.
Luckily this is one you can start any day. You'll see results in just weeks of you keep at it
Yes you are correct. I did restart my intermittent fasting Monday. I previously lost 50 pounds on it, then covid hit and I was in a Fd up place....gained 30 back in like 3 months.
Back on track, tired of being miserable because of alcohol and food. Last night I went to bed sober, for the first time in years. That was hard as f-ck. But I am on my way. Thanks for the encouragement.
Head Held High Because No One Can Keep You Down
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Being confident.
As a child, I had my head held high and cannot be bullied by anyone because I was so comfortable and acceptable of myself.
Current me is so marred with teenage emotional scars and issues that I can barely see my younger self in me anymore.
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Try not to follow the bad advice given here, because you don't want to get the results that these guys did.
U/Duckerton375 asked: What's the worst advice someone ever gave you, but you still followed?
The workplace can bring a cornucopia of terrible advice. Don’t follow these unless you want to get fired.
​Bad jobs are usually not worth it.
Stick with a job no matter how bad it is. I stayed with a terrible job working retail, dealing with horrible customers and sexual harassment. I was told I wouldn't find anything better.
"No, no, you misunderstand. I said you wouldn't find anything better at making you feel like complete garbage."
This gets really creepy really fast.
frustrated workplace GIFGiphy"After you put in a job application, you need to call them at least once a day every day until they hire you."
Note: this did not get me hired. It got me called out by the HR person I was calling and forbidden to ever contact their facility again.
I work for a law firm that employees over 1500 people in the home office alone. Once I received a call from the building security saying, "Insert Name is here to speak with the owner." Well we are run by a committee so that's odd. Found out they just applied for a job and wanted to talk directly to the person that would potentially hire them. Told him the firm will contact them to schedule an interview. They refused to leave without "talking to the owner." Had security escort them out of the building.
​This is absolutely not true.
"Sleep is for people who do not want success" great words from my uncle, it almost killed me.
Now I may be oversleeping.
​Interpersonal relationships are also a big breeding ground for terrible advice. Don’t listen to any of these.
Heartbreaking.
My father always tought me and my brother that "having friends is bad and in the end they will never be there for you" so everytime I told my father about my friends he would get kinda mad and give me the advice to stop talking to them.
Now I am afraid of people and have several trust issues, thanks dad.
​This won’t end well.
A Christmas Story GIF by filmeditorGiphyIn the fifth grade my teacher was talking about bullying, then she said "if anyone tries to bully you just agree with them." So the next time I got bullied I agreed with the bully and they bullied me more.
Dude one time I saw an anti bullying video that told the victims to just BE NICE TO THE BULLY. Like the bully was hurling insults and the victim was smiling and complimenting him. My first thought was about how much I hated the mere thought that this would work. My second thought was of how the people who came up with that method had clearly never been bullied.
​Oof.
When I met my now wife at the age of 19, one of my coworkers said that it's very important to start at the bottom with presents and work your way up, she still has the socks I gave her on our first anniversary on the wall over our bed as a reminder...
I'm still trying to teach my boyfriend about good presents and bad presents. Biscuits from the supermarket = bad present. Cheap unbranded laptop battery from China as my only present = bad present (and only lasted 2 months). Anything off my 7-page wishlist = good present. It's literally a list of things I want to receive as presents.
​Can tell you from experience that this is a bad idea.
Had a falling out with some friends. My husband recommended I reach out to an old friend who ghosted me suddenly in a manner that induced some pretty severe abandonment trauma. Went for it anyways because "it's been so long, surely they changed". Am now experiencing the same things as last time.
When you follow bad advice, it can lead to mistakes that you just can’t come back from.​
Buying a house is tricky.
for sale dancing GIF by Lisa VertudachesGiphy"Buy a home now before the prices go up!" -my FIL in 2006.
We bought in 2007 and paid $259,500 for our 1,300 sq ft house (we really couldn't afford it and had an 80/20 so we had 8% interest for one loan and 6% on the other) and in 2008 it was worth $97,000 so refinancing wasn't even an option. We watched all of our neighbors walk away or get foreclosed on but we kept paying our bills and as of this very moment our house is worth $462,000. I'm so happy we stuck it out, we both worked our @sses off and the house will be paid off in 2 years.
It worked out for us, it's a horrible idea. Especially since 1300 sq ft houses are $460+k
My heartbreaks for future generations, I honestly don't know how people are going to afford housing in the future.
It’s there for a reason.
"Never apply for any government assistance."
Cue years of suffering trying to work full-time with a painful disability. Quit a particularly terrible job, and wanted to apply for food aid until I could find another gig; a friend with lots of DHS experience recommended I apply for Social Security "just to get in the system." Turns out my disability was bad enough to get accepted the first time, which I wasn't expecting. Really could've used that support, oh, the 30+ previous years of my life.
Credit is important to have.
I was told to not get a credit card until after college. I was super fortunate to have my college paid for so I had no loans, car paid in cash, no credit card or anything to start building credit. Found myself out in the world at 22 years old with a credit score of 0.
So while a lot of this bad advice came from trusted people, oftentimes they were too misinformed to give that advice in the first place. Don't trust the word of one person--do your research, and make decisions for yourself.
It'll be way better in the long run