Uncomfortable Questions: What would I do differently?
callianassa asks: If you could do your life over, what major decisions would you make differently?
This is another tough one.
I can certainly think of personality changes I'd like -- namely, to have grown up with more (self-)discipline, and with the habits and skills to regularly make things (ie the hacker mindset). But I can't pinpoint any decisions (of mine or of my parents') that would bring about these changes.
However, there are a lot of specific things I did wrong freshman year. I'd like to make the following changes:
- Argue with the housing office about transferring to EC or Random, instead of just accepting that I was stuck in Next House
-- Failing that, actually make an effort to be friends with the people on my floor
- Spend more time first semester doing activities and being social instead of wasting my time being stressed and getting those really good grades that no one can ever see (whee, pass/no-record)
- Not isolate myself second semester (thus falling out of practice at socialization, which I think was instrumental in becoming depressed)
-- Subsidiary: not stop going square dancing
- Be doing something productive over last summer instead of 'taking the summer off'
Looking further back than that, it's hard to come up with specific decisions to change. (OK, "not isolate self" wasn't a single decision, rather a process... but I'm still counting it.) I'd really like to take back all the times I've given my parents a hard time during my adolescence, but that's kind of a natural part of adolescence -- I am definitely sorry for them, but they were learning experiences.
...Oh, wait, I thought of one. For most of high school I had a major crush on this one guy, and eventually told him I loved him (ah, naivete). This led to all kinds of badness and awkwardness. The experience did teach me a lot, but that one component of it could be safely discarded.
That was unexpectedly uplifting. It'd probably be a good idea to ask myself this question every year and every 4 or so years.
This is another tough one.
I can certainly think of personality changes I'd like -- namely, to have grown up with more (self-)discipline, and with the habits and skills to regularly make things (ie the hacker mindset). But I can't pinpoint any decisions (of mine or of my parents') that would bring about these changes.
However, there are a lot of specific things I did wrong freshman year. I'd like to make the following changes:
- Argue with the housing office about transferring to EC or Random, instead of just accepting that I was stuck in Next House
-- Failing that, actually make an effort to be friends with the people on my floor
- Spend more time first semester doing activities and being social instead of wasting my time being stressed and getting those really good grades that no one can ever see (whee, pass/no-record)
- Not isolate myself second semester (thus falling out of practice at socialization, which I think was instrumental in becoming depressed)
-- Subsidiary: not stop going square dancing
- Be doing something productive over last summer instead of 'taking the summer off'
Looking further back than that, it's hard to come up with specific decisions to change. (OK, "not isolate self" wasn't a single decision, rather a process... but I'm still counting it.) I'd really like to take back all the times I've given my parents a hard time during my adolescence, but that's kind of a natural part of adolescence -- I am definitely sorry for them, but they were learning experiences.
...Oh, wait, I thought of one. For most of high school I had a major crush on this one guy, and eventually told him I loved him (ah, naivete). This led to all kinds of badness and awkwardness. The experience did teach me a lot, but that one component of it could be safely discarded.
That was unexpectedly uplifting. It'd probably be a good idea to ask myself this question every year and every 4 or so years.