We’re constantly bombarded by messages that we should seize the day, live life to the fullest, and that we can do and be absolutely anything that we want. It’s either empowering or emotionally exhausting depending on your point of view. One of the problems that lie at the core of this ‘go-gettism’ philosophy is that there often isn’t much guidance behind the energetic urging to not waste a single moment more and embrace an adrenaline-filled, happy-go-lucky lifestyle.
That means that it’s up to every single person to try and figure out what they really want to do, whether it’s professionally or during their spare time. And that can lead to some very naive mistakes. Maybe you realized that bungee jumping really isn’t for you. Perhaps you learned the hard way that camping isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be if you don’t have a tiny Aragorn living inside your heart. Or maybe you got burned after trusting your colleagues too much.
Reddit users opened up about their worst experiences and mistakes in a brutally honest thread full of worldly wisdom. Scroll down for the anti-bucket list of things that people will never ever do again.
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Work in a covid unit. It was worth it in the beginning when I felt like I was trying to rescue victims of an unknown enemy while risking my life to buy precious time for a game-changing miracle. However, parts of me have died over the last two years. The patients that come into my ER now days have turned up their noses at a vaccine that many have died in my presence waiting for. The ones dying of covid are shouting at me, hitting me, threatening me, and trying to pull the PPE off of my face because they don't think that covid is real. I've had to drive past protesters on my way home from a shift where I had to take an eight year old off of life support because her unvaccinated parents gave the virus to her. I don't even feel sad anymore when a patient passes because now I have a ventilator open for at least one of the next three patients circling the drain.
I'm tired of getting yelled at by antivaxers and their families. I'm tired of risking my life for people who won't do the bare minimum, like taking a jab, to live.
I've spent my life trying to help people, but no one is worth it anymore. You win. I'm done. I regret it all. Everything I ever stood for is dead. The only thing that matters to me is my dog. She will never understand why I never came home, but she has widespread cancer, so that won't be long either.
Facebook. Deleted the account, never going back. I don’t miss it at all.
Vote Republican. I was a lifelong R until they picked Trump. My eyes were opened to what they were and I'll never donate another cent or vote R for any position ever again. I love when I get the calls from them, begging for money. I get to explain why the money they used to get is now going to their opponents.
I've decided as long as there are starving children and pets in this world, no political party is getting a cent of my money.
The anti-bucket list is the complete opposite of the bucket list, a list of all the things that a person hopes to do in life.
They say that the best teacher is cold, hard experience. And there’s no denying that trying out a whole bunch of different activities can quickly help you filter out what you actually enjoy doing and what sounds great on paper but is horrible in real life.
However, things aren’t so easy when you deal with underlying assumptions like trusting everyone, not just leisure activities. If the fundamental ideas that make up your life get shaken, you can be in for a rude awakening. And with a lot to think about while you’re sitting there, angry, ashamed, embarrassed.
Buy clothes that don’t fit well in hopes that “someday” I’ll lose weight and be comfortable in them. Just size up, damn it, and be comfortable now!
Settling for a relationship knowing you are not really happy.
Never. Again.
Attempt [to end my life].
After maybe three of four days after the attempt I experienced what I think is called epiphany. Started everything all over. Loved myself, finished therapy etc. No matter what bulls**t life throws at me I will never do it again.
Something that we all have to remind ourselves of from time to time is that it’s all right to make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect. And, heck, you could argue that perfection is overrated. What really matters is learning to embrace the mistakes that we make and learning the lessons that are there to be learned, without regret.
Vanessa Bohns, an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at Cornell University, explained to us earlier about embracing mistakes, dealing with our embarrassment, and why hiding our mistakes isn’t healthy for us.
"We spend a lot of time and effort presenting an ideal version of ourselves to other people. When something happens that contrasts with the image we’ve been projecting—when we say or do something that shows we actually aren’t as graceful or as smart as we’d like people to believe—we feel embarrassed," Vanessa told Bored Panda during an earlier interview that many of us want to seem perfect.
Give a f**k about other people’s opinions of me. Not my business.
Now I always pee before cutting jalapeno peppers. The other way around, never again.
Apparently a mistake only done once. (Careful around your eyes…)
Assume that every co worker is a friend.
I truly believed most of my colleagues were friends in a place I used too work, to the point I’d go above and beyond to help them. Even if it was rarely if ever reciprocated. Yet whenever I needed help they were nowhere to be found or were ‘busy’. If I got in trouble they were quick to throw me under the bus without hesitation and would lie to my face about doing so.
I thought some of my co workers were friends and even invited them to my engagement party. They did RSVP yet none of them showed up.
"Discovering you were wrong about something most everyone else around you has long known to be true is one of those moments. In that moment we learn, 'Wait a minute, maybe I haven’t been presenting the image of being smart or worldly that I thought I was presenting all this time,' which is embarrassing,” she explained how embarrassment works.
“One thing that’s interesting about embarrassment is that, for as much as we might experience it as painful in the moment, it’s actually very socially adaptive. Being embarrassed signals to other people that you care about what they think. And that actually draws people in to you,” the expert pointed out that when we admit to our mistakes openly, we become better liked.
I refuse to ever do retail again, people are literally such a**holes and don’t realize your trying to help them and still get their job done.
But…. Everyone should work in retail or food services for a while. To appreciate the crap work and how vital it is. And to appreciate where you’ve been and where you’re going.
Smoke. Did it for 14 years. I feel so much better having quit. Been about 10 years since and the amount of money saved and the smell and the cough.
Having sex without wanting to. I was in a relationship with someone who'd frequently pressure me into having sex, and I'm definitely never ever doing that again.
Same. I'm stilling getting over the trauma. It just never feels right again.
“So blushing, burying your head in your hands, laughing, acknowledging how embarrassing something was, are all totally healthy ways to react.”
On the flip side, when we try to hide our mistakes and embarrassment, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot, socially speaking. In other words, it’s not only cathartic, it’s also socially useful for us to admit to the times we utterly embarrassed ourselves or messed up beyond all belief.
Work as a bartender.
I know, I know, the money is good. But getting home at 4am or later, the booze and drug scene, surviving on Red Bull and pedialyte, and getting grabassed by strangers while trying to pay my bills is not the life for me.
787 days sober and I’ll never look back. Got my degree and working as a design specialist/content developer for a museum now and I LOVE MY JOB. Also started my own small business and it’s going really well so far. I have an art show coming up soon and I’m really excited for it.
Stay at a job I’m unhappy at.
I've been gruelling at a job that hasn't fit my values and personality for a decade. I have an interview at a place I've always wanted to work at this week. Hope I get it.
Trying to be liked by everybody by always being nice and never saying no. Never again.
“The unhealthy way to react is to pretend you’re not embarrassed, that you didn’t make a mistake, or to get angry. Those things undo the positive effect of embarrassment typically has on other people by conveying insincerity and pushing people away rather than drawing them in,” Vanessa said.
Sharing too much.
I used to tell people my life goals and plans, and upload everything on social media as well: what I was doing, who I was dating or in a relationship with, where I was... all that.
Now I realise there is so much more peace and happiness in living a low-key life. I high-key enjoy that s**t.
Camping. Never again will I leave my perfectly comfortable house for a weekend to sleep on the ground and share a disgusting bathroom with 150 strangers.
Loan a friend money with the expectation of getting it back. Haven’t loaned money since and if I ever do, it’s a gift.
I’m aware that this might come across as slightly arsey, but I’ve stopped loaning anything at all. (Ie not money, but books, CDs, clothes, household items, etc.) I’ve grown tired of being the one who keeps pushing to get my stuff back, and then, when I do finally get it back, it’s usually in a pretty bad condition.
Being obese.
I didn’t realize how much it negatively affected everything in my life until I lost 80 pounds. Then I was like “oh THIS is how I’m supposed to feel.”
Go to Disneyland or Disney World.
Paid waaaaay too much money to stand in waaaay too many lines, fighting crowds of waaaay too many people.
Disney parks are not a fun way to spend a day.
i went to hershey park a few years ago with my family. i havent been to disneyland/world, but they have a lot of the same things, less long lines, and CHOCOLATE
Hershey Park is fun! Do they still give a chocolate bar at the end of the museum tour? You're not missing much on Disney/Disney World. Too crowded and too expensive. I also like Knotts Berry Farm in CA - it's not as expensive as any of the Disney parks.
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They are awesome on a Wednesday in October! You can get off a ride and right back on there are so few people. We went to the Haunted Mansion all done in the Nightmare Before Christmas redress first and had the entire ride to ourselves start to finish. It was so much fun.
It's unfortunately not what it used to be. I was a huge fan but what they've become is crazy. When I was a kid you just went - no need to pre-planning and advance reservations. You just chose what you felt like that day. Not nearly as many options for attractions and hotels, but SO much more chill and easy. Those days are gone.
It's almost like they're still recovering from being closed for months to keep from becoming a hotspot for a potentially fatal new virus.
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This is the reason I never wanted to visit. Way too expensive and too peopley.
I love that word peopley even tho it's not a word. I'm gonna start using it.
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Alternate POV: A well-planned Disney trip can be amazing. Pick less-busy times of year, choose less-busy days of the week to visit each park (yes, that's a thing!). Rent a house or hotel suite with a kitchen, buy some groceries, and cook a bunch of easy meals there instead of spending $$$ on park food 3x/day. Make dinner reservations when you *do* decide to eat out. Make sure the kids are at the right age where they can appreciate being there (hint: no babies). Take advantage of Fast Pass and Magic Hours. There are literally hundreds of websites that can help you plan an itinerary. It will totally be worth the time you take to do so!
There isn't a "less busy" time anymore. There won't be for the next several years bare minimum. Only less expensive times. Fastpass isn't a thing anymore, it got replaced with a new system that's a pain to navigate. Extra Magic Hours are limited to people staying in a Disney resort. And for a first timer it can be incredibly beneficial to splurge on one of their specialist planners to help you figure everything out.
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Disney is a ripoff. Wasn't that way in the 60s and early 70s, but now it is only making rich people richer while you spend hours in line for a five minutes ride.
Back in the day (1960s and 70s), Disneyland was a fun place. Disney World was also good as late as 1988. That was my last visit, so I don't know when it all changed, but everything I've heard about either place now tells me that they're poor imitations of what the Disney experience used to be. They both sound like exorbitantly overpriced and hellish endurance contests.
Agreed. Been there (with 4 boys, who are far less excited by princesses), done that, checked off the list
I found it was the Rudest Place on Earth. It definitely took away all my happiness!
I've been to Disneyland a bunch of times, because my maternal grandparents lived in LA. Never been to Disneyworld or EPCOT. Don't feel like I've missed anything.
If u want to have more fun. Take the money u wouldve spent on disney or any major theme park, look up county fairs in different states. Not state fairs . Some have long lines and lots of waiting . Not as much waiting as major parks though. Anyways travel to the different county fairs. Ive done it a couple times .
All inclusive resorts in the tropics are where its at. There are adventure parks where you have free reign to snorkel, explore caves/natural pools/forests, zip lines, etc. Some even have cool dinner and shows with local food and cultural displays. I got to see a mesoamerican ball game once while sipping cactus juice. Way more memorable than disney, and cheaper. (In my humble opinion) if you're interested, look up xelha or xcalet (sp?)
They have gotten EVEN worse these past two years. Prices are worse, lined are longer and the magic is completely gone.
Did you by chance go on the summer or during the holidays ?? Go again on the off season (not now now its not woth it for low quality) but back before covid there were many ways to save money. Been going for 10 years (you get to save years in advance) but i recommend going on a disney cruise ive nevr had a bad time on the 9 years we went. The service is great,food is good and aside from drinks,shoping and adult dinning everythung (but baby care) is included on ship .ive never felt so relaxed and they even have room service included ! ..sorry i geek put over this lol main i miss disney curise..i said DISNEY i havent tried another cruise and from the news reports i dont plan to anytime soon
I have never liked theme parks. The crowds are insane and the rides just seem boring to me. At least when I went to the Gold Coast the weather was raining on and off which kept the crowds down, but I just wanted to go to the beach!
All the times I took my family to Disneyland we had a great time. It is not cheap, especially these days, but still fun if you go in expecting to spend time in lines and getting wiped out after a long day.
We went to California Disneyland February 2022, Sunday to Tuesday. It wasn't busy. Most queues short or non existent. Twice we waited in a long queue. I only went for the kids but but I had an AWESOME time! Definitely worth it. We stayed at Holiday Inn, walked daily to DL. The DL app showed queue times and maps.
My husband wants to take our kids to Disney land - it's my idea of hell on earth. I like theme parks, been to Alton towers many many times in previous years. That, however, was before fibromyalgia got its damn claws into me. Now, just the idea of walking and standing so long gives me flashes of the pain I would be in, being thrown about in rides would leave me battered and I would be thoroughly miserable. It would be a waste of money for me to go, so I've told him if he takes them I'll stay home - our older kids are 16 and 17 so old enough that they can easily help look after the younger two at the park while still being able to fully enjoy the park, but my husband is insistent we all go or none - so it's putting quite a bit of pressure on me
I liked Euro Disney way better - barely any lines and the rides were just as fun!
I have lived in Florida for 20 years and have never been to a theme park here and I never will. Same when I lived in California, I never even saw a theme park while I lived there.
Never been in any of these big amusement parks, but I think spending day there would be frustrating. You can go on ride everywhere.
Forgive a cheater.
If it happened once, it can happen again. Also, it happened for a reason, maybe they wouldn't admit it or you wouldn't believe it but something was the precursor.
Bungee jump.. as soon as my feet left the edge all I could think was "well that was stupid"...
It was exciting and probably safe enough.. but it was enough for me to know I will never willingly do that again.
Childbirth and the postpartum period. Love my daughter to death. One and done.
Yep. I had my daughter and went through so much anxiety and was told it wasn't real that I did not have another child even though I wanted one. I just couldn't imagine going through that again. Now people talk about it more so I would be able to get help but 19 yrs ago doctors got frustrated if you complained about anything to do w mental health after pregnancy. Plus I was afraid they'd take her from me if they knew how axioms I was. To the point I held her for a year straight. I couldn't put her down I was so scared. I would sleep for a few hours a night as long as my husband held her while I slept.
Allow my mood to get tethered to someone else's.
With my ex, I was only ever happy when she was happy and if she woke up in a bad mood, my day was ruined. I need to live my own life without clinging onto someone else's.
Ah, emotional vampires. My mom is like this. I'm not allowed my own feelings. Every emotion she dictates. Now I don't know if I'm a strong empath or just can't deflect others emotions.
Working in academia - left two years ago and never looking back. F**k that noise.
Soon as the business folk became in charge of the institution instead of the professors, it was all over. Changing the model from " how can we best teach and research knowledge" to "how can we make more money to expand" destroyed the core philosophy.
This is already coming back to bite us in the collective behind. Never before have I encountered so many bachelor degrees with high hopes, high work ethos and just very little knowledge of anything other than their very insular topics.
Have a relationship with someone with children, thus finding myself in the stepfamily situation with never fully feeling accepted, the ex being omnipresent, and always being the one to adjust because… those poor children. And it’s true: they cannot help their situation. But I aint doing it ever again.
Pulling an all nighter. Age is catching up on me.
Attempted to pull a late night this weekend for the sake of having a social life and ended up going home early the next day to take a nap. I think I'm officially old now.
Birthing without an epidural. I had laughing gas instead. Made me high as a kite. I screamed in pain while I was dissociating into space.
Pregnant woman in the Netherlands here. There is now ay in hell I wouldn't want to choose giving birth without the epidural... Why to choose suffering? Hell nah, if I can, I will chose the less painful option to havea beautiful birth experience, hell with "it not natural" who cares? Also wearing shoes is not natural 😂 but hey... My respects to all women who choose to feel what our ancestors did before we had a painless option... Not for me!
Go to a strip club. I've never felt so awkward in my entire life.
I went once in my early 20s. Got a lap dance. Felt like a third wheel the whole time, like she was TRYING to give my wallet a lapdance and I was in the way.
Note: this post originally had 95 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
For the most part these are NOT bucket list things people tried and didn't like. FFS whose bucket list includes working retail, being in a bad relationship, having a child with someone they don't love. Come on this is just a list, predominantly, of bad experiences with bad things.
Exactly, it’s not things on peoples’ bucket lists that they don’t want to do again, it’s things that are now on the anti-bucket list of “I’ll never do this again in my life”. No one has “working retail” on their bucket list, but I bet a lot of people have it on the anti-bucket list after having tried it.
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This list sucks. It isn't even vaguely an "anti-bucket list". Why can't people at least try to post ideas that fit the theme, rather than jump on an opportunity to rant about something vaguely related.
I thought the idea of “anti-bucket list” was “this wasn’t on my bucket list before, but I’m never going to do it again”. It’s not things that were on the bucket list already and then turned out to be horrible, it’s somewhat normal things that they don’t want to do again. They’re two separate lists, not things from one moved to the other.
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i'm going to say it....having a child. i have one who is now 42 but, in retrospect, i would not have had him. it's a long story that i won't get into but it was a situation in which i could not choose to abort or adopt out. had i been able to do either i think my life would have been different. but, that being said, i will say that the experience did benefit me as i think it made me a better person. i don't know if that's a 'making lemonade out of lemons' attitude or not but after one i was done.
Thank you. I have 3. I felt pressured into having them even though I didn't want them and wasn't ready. I love my children, but parenting isn't really for me and they didn't deserve to be born into this world.
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Snorkeling. Did it once at a camp, hyperventilated and got back in the boat as fast as possible. Everything looked so much closer, slimier, more alive, and much better at swimming than me, and since it was below me, I couldn’t run away except by swimming to somewhere else with new horrors. At one point I nearly kicked a sea turtle that I had no idea was there. The worst part is I then had to go out again with the group the next day and they wouldn’t let me just stay in the boat. I am absolutely never going anywhere in the ocean with clear water ever again. Too many nightmares. I’ll stick to aquariums with walls, thanks.
Thank you for this actual anti-bucket list thing.
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For me, ride a roller coaster. I'll do other adrenaline inducing things, like cliff-dive or do the polar-bear-challenge, I just never had any desire whatsoever to ride a coaster as a kid. As a teen, someone begged me to ride one with them, and after a lot of back and forth, I finally gave in. I ended up getting severe whiplash, and didn't even enjoy the ride prior to the injury. It just seemed bumpy and uncomfortable, and not at all exciting. 30 years later, and I tend to throw out my shoulder a lot. I couldn't swear the whip lash is what caused my shoulder to get so screwed up, but that's around the same time it started.
I thought I was the only one who was bored by rollercoasters etc! People expect it's just that you are scared, but I would rather do something like rock climbing.
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Once I jumped off a cliff into a lake. I did not enjoy it at all.
Getting married again. One and done. Thank god I can spend the rest of my life with my current husband. We both agree we agree should have eloped. Ceremony + reception, so stressful.
Being friends with certain people who either used me as their personal therapist or refused to take no for an answer when he asked me out
Hitting my 8 year old computer in frustration while it was trying to boot. The next thing I hear is a faint error sound. It had been reading from the disk. Thank good I had backups of most of it, but my Minecraft worlds will forever be gone. Were it not for my stupidity, I would still be using my old laptop today.
I keep getting calls telling me to pay off my student loans, and the people calling are glad to help me. This is a little bit strange, because I am 75 years old, and I paid off all my student loans some 40 years ago. However when I feel the money people on the phone that, they won't listen. They just keep trying to get my money.
Would have been better if these were actual bucket list things people did that just weren't worth it, or at least sounded like actual bucket list experiences to someone.
For the most part these are NOT bucket list things people tried and didn't like. FFS whose bucket list includes working retail, being in a bad relationship, having a child with someone they don't love. Come on this is just a list, predominantly, of bad experiences with bad things.
Exactly, it’s not things on peoples’ bucket lists that they don’t want to do again, it’s things that are now on the anti-bucket list of “I’ll never do this again in my life”. No one has “working retail” on their bucket list, but I bet a lot of people have it on the anti-bucket list after having tried it.
Load More Replies... This list sucks. It isn't even vaguely an "anti-bucket list". Why can't people at least try to post ideas that fit the theme, rather than jump on an opportunity to rant about something vaguely related.
I thought the idea of “anti-bucket list” was “this wasn’t on my bucket list before, but I’m never going to do it again”. It’s not things that were on the bucket list already and then turned out to be horrible, it’s somewhat normal things that they don’t want to do again. They’re two separate lists, not things from one moved to the other.
Load More Replies... i'm going to say it....having a child. i have one who is now 42 but, in retrospect, i would not have had him. it's a long story that i won't get into but it was a situation in which i could not choose to abort or adopt out. had i been able to do either i think my life would have been different. but, that being said, i will say that the experience did benefit me as i think it made me a better person. i don't know if that's a 'making lemonade out of lemons' attitude or not but after one i was done.
Thank you. I have 3. I felt pressured into having them even though I didn't want them and wasn't ready. I love my children, but parenting isn't really for me and they didn't deserve to be born into this world.
Load More Replies... Snorkeling. Did it once at a camp, hyperventilated and got back in the boat as fast as possible. Everything looked so much closer, slimier, more alive, and much better at swimming than me, and since it was below me, I couldn’t run away except by swimming to somewhere else with new horrors. At one point I nearly kicked a sea turtle that I had no idea was there. The worst part is I then had to go out again with the group the next day and they wouldn’t let me just stay in the boat. I am absolutely never going anywhere in the ocean with clear water ever again. Too many nightmares. I’ll stick to aquariums with walls, thanks.
Thank you for this actual anti-bucket list thing.
Load More Replies... For me, ride a roller coaster. I'll do other adrenaline inducing things, like cliff-dive or do the polar-bear-challenge, I just never had any desire whatsoever to ride a coaster as a kid. As a teen, someone begged me to ride one with them, and after a lot of back and forth, I finally gave in. I ended up getting severe whiplash, and didn't even enjoy the ride prior to the injury. It just seemed bumpy and uncomfortable, and not at all exciting. 30 years later, and I tend to throw out my shoulder a lot. I couldn't swear the whip lash is what caused my shoulder to get so screwed up, but that's around the same time it started.
I thought I was the only one who was bored by rollercoasters etc! People expect it's just that you are scared, but I would rather do something like rock climbing.
Load More Replies... Once I jumped off a cliff into a lake. I did not enjoy it at all.
Getting married again. One and done. Thank god I can spend the rest of my life with my current husband. We both agree we agree should have eloped. Ceremony + reception, so stressful.
Being friends with certain people who either used me as their personal therapist or refused to take no for an answer when he asked me out
Hitting my 8 year old computer in frustration while it was trying to boot. The next thing I hear is a faint error sound. It had been reading from the disk. Thank good I had backups of most of it, but my Minecraft worlds will forever be gone. Were it not for my stupidity, I would still be using my old laptop today.
I keep getting calls telling me to pay off my student loans, and the people calling are glad to help me. This is a little bit strange, because I am 75 years old, and I paid off all my student loans some 40 years ago. However when I feel the money people on the phone that, they won't listen. They just keep trying to get my money.
Would have been better if these were actual bucket list things people did that just weren't worth it, or at least sounded like actual bucket list experiences to someone.
