New Weekly " Off Topic" Topic No.22 (02/07/12)

[Ludwig Venter]

Way back in the early 1960's (1962 to be exact)..... (I was only 11 years old at the time).... we formed a gang of about 5 boys and there was also this one girl, Magdalene Annandale.... who obviously came from a very poor family.... she was very quiet and withdrawn, (but not an under-achiever), but because of her disposition, she became the target of our group and where-ever and whenever we found the opportunity.... we would pass remarks and deliberately walk wide circles around her....

Deep down in my sub-conscious.... I felt that this was not right and I felt very sorry for Magdalene,.... but in my group.... I used to participate in their mocking and rediculing of Magdalene.....

It is now approximately 50 years later and Magdalene must be somewhere around 60 years old by now.....If I could turn back the hands of time.... I will write this episode completely out of my life..... kids are cruel they say, ..... but this was inexcusable and dispicable and I so wish that I could meet Magdalene to appologise.....

Going back in time....is there any event or action that happened in your life, which you would've approached differently if you knew then what you know now?....

 

[Ps3Steveo]

I'd go back to myself at age 13 and kick me up the back side and say don't smoke!!!

In regards to your Ludwig, you never know it may have made her a stronger person and she may have done well for herself, or there may have been a time in her life after that where she needed to stick up for herself and done so because of the bully's when she was a child. It may have turned out to be a positive thing in her life. I got bullied left right and centre at school until one day I'd got a bit stocky, started playing rugby and decided enough was enough and I went up to the biggest bully out of the group and shut his mouth for him to put it a nicer way for the forum. It never happened again after that, so now I think of those bully's as a positive point in my life.

 

[Akasha72]

yep, bullied too - still have the odd bully in my life (family members) but it's made me a stronger person. I stick up for myself and I learned at the age of 5 or 6 that a smack on the nose (the bullies in school used to hit me) often made them leave me alone. I don't advocate violence but if it was okay for them to hit me it was okay for me to hit them back and make it count

Back on topic now.

I have many regrets in life, I've never married, never had children despite only ever wanting to be someone's wife and Mum but my main regret is not spending enough time with those I loved before they passed on.

If I could turn back the hands of time I'd give more of my time and spend it with my loved ones



"Time is a valuble thing, watch it count down as the pendulum swings, watch it count down to the end of the day - the clock ticks life away"

 

[MBOU]

God... there is so many things I would change. Pretty much every decision I ever made.

-Dont feel hurt by what people say.
-Don't nearly kill yourself in the effort of trying to look after everyone else.
-Dont spend your whole life trying to fix problems outside of your control.
-When taught "stranger danger" as a kid, listen to them!
-Don't be so afraid to ask for help when you really need it.
-Not everyones parents are perfect, don't let your parents get you down for not being perfect.
-DONT go to agricultural college, its a waste of 2 years of your life, do your A levels in English, Psychology and Photography.
-Don't put yourself in risky or dangerous situations just because its easier than the alternative
-Don't put up with being bullied, fight back!
-Embrace being different from the crowd and not a sheep instead of trying to conform to everyone elses ideals.
-Choose your jobs a lot more carefully, don't let them take the mick and take advantage of such hard work for no reward. If they dont appreciate the hard work, dont work so hard.
-Spend more time with your family, it hurts far more in hindsight when you realise you havent spend time and now its too late.


The list is endless.

If I could change any of those things, I would be a very different person and that would be preferable!

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Oh boy Ludwig! What have you done lol, this is cheery on a Monday morning!

In my moments of fatigue and emotional overload, negative thoughts and regrets do come floating through my mind. Most of them are insignificant and things that others have probably long since forgotten about. Offhand comments that I wish I'd never made. One thing that comes back when I feel the need to beat myself up, is about the hard time I gave this one teacher I had at high school, why was I such a twerp? And then the overwhelming embarassment I felt on the day when he'd had enough of my cheek and totally embarassed me in class, I really deserved it though! But yeah, most of my regrets are related to one-off comments I have made to people, not out of anger usually just out of plain not thinking it through!

I imagine everyone gets run down and allows negative thoughts run rampant from time to time but I just try and remember that have had and still have it really good, though in low moments it's hard not to beat yourself up!

 

[Paradise3]

"Time is a valuble thing, watch it count down as the pendulum swings, watch it count down to the end of the day - the clock ticks life away"

That's a Linkin Park quote from the song In The End
The rest is "It's so unreal didn't look out below, Watch time fly right out the window."
Then it's the chorus

If I could back in time, I would go to when I was 12 and try to stop some things that happened to me. Things that made me psychologically unstable...
Then I'd also go back about 1 year, kick myself in the backside and tell myself not to go out with the 18 year old boy I had a brief relationship with.

 

[FishBlast]

There are so many things I'd erase from my past if I could.

Firstly I would have tried harder to convince my mother to let me go to the high school I wanted to and forget about taking that useless English exam which serves now as toilet paper as I didn't even need it for the high school I ended up in. I wanted to take the arts' exam so that I could go to arts high school, but we don't always get what we want...

Secondly, I wish I could have made the break-up with my former friend easier / more civilized than being a snitch and talking about her to that other friend of mine that she insulted. But since I was mad at my former friend, I said I should just do what I do as usual when someone is acting like that and talk about them with the others. That's all I regret though, that I couldn't just simply cut ties without being a snitch. I wanted to, but was too angry to do it right.

I also wish I could turn back time and begin fishkeeping in the right way back in 1997. With the knowledge I have gained today from this forum though, because I had no internet back then and people around here didn't even know what cycling was or how to use a filter properly or not using one at all...

I wish I could have visited an old family friend who died exactly on that day when Mars was closest to Earth (no idea if that had anything to do with it, but there were warnings all over the news about how some illnesses can get worse and such). He died suddenly at the table while having breakfast with his family. If I could have turned back time, I would have visited him one last time and maybe even made sure he'd go see the doctor before that happened...

Oh yeah, and the amount of stupid things I've said that made me be seen as weird, an idiot or just plain cheesy (while I was the leader of the high school class, kind of like a president... I never really wanted to be the leader anyway.)

This last one sounds kind of sad, but I wish I had stopped my parents from meeting (assuming I'd still exist after this), as I think my mother would have had a way better life and so would my father. They're not even married and that kind of says something. I was the only reason they had to stick together. They really don't like each other, even though dad is the only one bringing most of the money in the house.

 

[FishFanatic04]

I grew up as a military brat, and my biggest regret I think is the lack of building close lifelong friendships. These days being married to a soldier I spend more time home with my kids then I do with other people and I'm starting to feel the strain. I'm sure I spend enough time on the forum daily to prove that's true.

My habits as a child and leaving friendships behind so easily every year or two has transferred into loneliness now. Shame on me for complaining about something I can still fix.


I did get a little aggressive as a kid with people who attacked me. I have a defensive streak, ya see. {Kill 'em with kindness would have been a much better habit}