There is a popular psychological exercise called "Writing to yourself at an earlier age". This actually helps a person to realize what mistakes they made in the past, accept them and, if possible, become more calm and balanced in the present - after all, in fact, these mistakes cannot actually be changed.
Well, we all make mistakes - especially in our teenage years, when life energy literally overflows, our own life experience is still very small, and someone else's advice seems so insignificant and, let's be honest, so stupid. Some of these mistakes just remain in the past, causing only a feeling of shame over the years. Some of them, on the contrary, affect our entire subsequent life.
A popular thread recently appeared in the AskReddit community with over 12.7K upvotes and nearly 8K comments. The topic starter suggested that redditors perform the same exercise, only in a simpler form, by just answering the question "What was your biggest teenage mistake?"
Bored Panda has collected for you the most popular answers from this thread, where there are both sad revelations and funny moments that are shameful to remember, but at least fun. And perhaps the most correct comment in this collection is from a teenager who thanks people for listing the mistakes that they will try to avoid in their life. We hope they succeed...
Anyway, now scroll to the very end, like your favorite submissions and, of course, share your own stories - after all, we know that nobody is perfect!
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Marrying my 18-year-old self to a 40-year-old who'd been grooming me for three years, just to spite my mother.
0/10, would not recommend.
Same. Only my ex was 50 and I was 18. We'd only known each other a year. Did get 2 really awesome kids out of that otherwise 18yr disaster, though!
Looking back at the way I treated this one girl. I was cruel and thoughtless. I’m 50 now and it still hurts me.
I am in my teenage years rn and i realised i can learn from your mistakes, thanks redditors
Worried too much about trying to "fit in" and being concerned about what others were thinking.
As a teenager I did the same thing and didn't enjoy my teens years like I should have. I keep telling my siblings (who are now teenagers) to lighten up and have fun, no one cares that much. They aren't listening.......
Coasting through school on being bright and never learning to study. University was a shock and just about managed my 2:2
This! Study habits are hard to learn later on and are very necessary for higher education and job success.
I did not rebel. My parents incessantly accused me of rebelling and general debauchery despite being in a huge club sport on scholarship, being involved in school councils, having extra curriculars like orchestra, and art (which I always won awards for), having a 3.6 GPA, being the first in my family on track to go to a huge university, etc etc etc.
I spent my high school life hopping in between crying, self-loathing, and suicidal ideation when I could have been having fun and enjoying my childhood. I spent too much time wondering why my parents didn’t love me instead of doing something about it and refusing to respect them.
i was in the exact same situation in high school, and i finally chose to do some of the things they were constantly accusing me of. might as well have fun if they're not going to believe you anyway. but... i do not recommend this lol
I took teenage stereotypes too seriously. Like I thought the kind of dynamics you saw in teen moves were real- jocks were all dumb a*sholes, nerdy kids were smart virgins, etc. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize that people are people and that I was severely limiting myself by assigning myself a "role."
Not getting the hint that my friend, the beautiful Patricia, wanted to be WAY more than friends.
Not pursuing my passion when i have the age,health and time with me
Definitely. So many regrets. I didn't train as a midwife because of some BOY and the relationship never even got off the ground.
Not realising that my parents weren’t doing the best job raising me/preparing me for adulthood and realising I should maybe take matters into my own hands.
High school football. My doctor advised me against it but I was 14 and knew everything. Putting my body through four years of abuse was not worth what I got out of it.
Today I’m 33 and wake up with a stiff neck every day, my right shoulder has a ton of scar tissue, my elbow has a bone chip, my jaw clicks/pops if I open it too wide, and both of my knees ache when it gets too cold.
Also our team sucked.
What kind of backwards awful school allows kids to injure themselves this badly in school sports???
Not seeing women the same as men.
Turns out, we're all people.
Forcing myself to fall in love with a girl. I didn't love her, I was in love with the idea of a girlfriend. Now to be fair, she made the same mistake. She didn't love me. It was a bad relationship.
Most people are in love with the idea of being in love. We learn and grow, there's no shame in this.
Not being more sociable. I’m 25 now and I have no f*****g idea how to make friends
As a suggestion, you could go on the internet and look up social clubs, meetups, and so on in your area. Maybe there's a program (art, archery, whatevs) that interests you that you could get involved in..its a step to meeting new people which would help you to become more social at your own pace.
I was a rather negative person as a teenager, but tried to play it off as sarcasm instead. I somehow had grown into this weird bubble where I made fun of almost every little thing, but didn't really realize that I was also hurting my friends by doing that.
I did lots of growing up after high school, and I'm a bit sad about not keeping in touch with my old friends. They might have liked me more today than they did back then.
Well it's also annoying when people don't understand sarcasm at all and just become angry with you
Not losing kilos from the beginning, i know it may be sound stupid but being an overweight teenager made me become an outcast everywhere, kids and adults can be cruel and even self esteem was bad. I only lost those kilos near the end wish i did it much sooner
Started having sex too young which lead to mistakes and pregnancies too young, and losing a baby as a child was too much. I’m still not sure I’ve recovered.
Guys, whoever sees this, look at the comments below this one, find the replies made by Gay Bear and DOWNVOTE THE HELL OUTTA THEM
My biggest teenage mistake was not being kind to myself. My teenage years were some of the hardest in my life( hopefully).
Trauma after trauma, disappointment after disappointment. And i always blamed myself for them all.
It wasn't until recently i could start looking back and realized that it really wasn't my fault. I did a lot more than most would have in my situation. And that even though i had terrible teenage years, its not a reflection on who i am, but more a reflection on what i was going through.
It makes comming to terms with losing out on that part of your life much easier. And i wish i had this mindset much earlier.
I’m in the middle of this. I have severe depression and social anxiety. Childhood trauma. Only a few close friends, and I have screwed up all of my relationships so far. Too introverted to make more friends, terrified of letting anyone be close to me again. I gave my heart to a manipulative guy. I’m literally only halfway through my teens, and it’s been awful. Not sure how to continue. Therapy is helping, but things are just getting worse. I realize that life is not supposed to be happy all the time, but this year has sucked. And last year. And the year before. The other day, I finally told someone the truth when they asked how I was doing. Then they told me that these should be the best years of my life. I don’t know. It just seems pointless. I’m taking meds, finding hobbies, being interactive (to a point). I’m trying it all. I’m trying to make it better. It’s not working. And there seems to be no end. Impossible. Tomorrow I’m hosting a game night. I have to put on a game face…
When I had the opportunity, I did not go to study, but decided to go to work right away
I don't want to be inconsiderate to the lack of context here (did you know what your dream job was from age 7 or hadn't a clue what to do at 16/18?) but...honestly...regret nothing. I left school at 17. Worked my way through a career I hated. Made a decent amount of money, not rich but comfortable. Then my mother died when I was in my 40's. Absolutely devastated. Sold up. Travelled for a while. Spent most of my savings. Then COVID hit. I'm now in my 50's, I work as a postman and I "get by" but love the job. I regret none of it. If it's the money you miss (or feel you missed), that's not the issue. Honestly, trust me... Live your life as best you can and enjoy it as much as possible (I just hope you are being afforded at least a *decent* living wage at what you are doing now...if you're struggling, that's a different issue and I would not wish this on anyone at all. Everyone, bar none, deserves a decent standard of living. Shouldn't even have to say it...)
I'm actually more worried about the mistakes I didn't make. Making mistakes means you're experiencing life. I was way too far in my shell to have fun.
I wonder why people associate 'fun' with 'making mistakes'. You WILL make mistakes throughout your entire life, but they're often far from fun and not per se the result from having fun in the first place. Having fun means you do what you love and want to do and you can do that at any moment in time.
Trying to be someone who I wasn't
Being a phony and hoping to pass it off? Definitely. An honest search for your true identity, trying various interests and relationships? That’s just being a mensch.
Spending a large inheritance I got when I was 18 in 2009. Could of owned a property outright by now
Must've been a very large inheritance with the current housing market
Never having had the courage to pursue girls or ask for help in figuring out how
I'm honestly having this problem with really wanting to talk to my crush, but when I get close I completely shut down, even though I do want to I just can't. Does anyone have advice that might help, because I don't want to also have this regret when I'm older
Shared bank account with girl at 19.
Having an online relationship with a girl throughout high school who broke up with me after I flew out to visit her. Those were years I could’ve spent dating the girl I’d had a crush on since fifth grade.
I took my uncle's beautiful restored classic car for a drive when I didn't have a license and got it impounded.
Not playing even more video games.
Note: this post originally had 42 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I regret not getting treatment for my depression, because parents told me I wasn't "depressed enough" to need medication, or to "play the suicide card". Instead I self-medicated with St John's Wort until my late 20s. SSRIs are a heck of a lot more effective. Just because you're functioning, and still getting up, and going to class, or to work, and pushing through to meet other people's expectations, it doesn't mean you're okay. You are not supposed to be living with constant dread, self-hatred, and mental anguish. You are not supposed to be pretending to be okay, while wishing each day that you could just die, and not have to do it any more. You're not supposed to be planning out ways to kill yourself without being "selfish" and inconveniencing others. Life's not supposed to be that hard. If this is familiar, please go to your doctor, and ask for help.
I reget not taking a chance on myself earlier in life by moving out of my parents home. Instead, I've stayed in a toxic environment where I'm disregarded, disrespected and treated unfairly. My daughter deserves better than to see me treated like this from "family"
I got used to rejection and also missing opportunities in general because I just "knew" that the opportunity was never for me to begin with. Rejection is part of life, but I have gotten so used to being rejected that I just allow myself to miss out on every opportunity just to avoid rejection in the first place.
I regret not getting treatment for my depression, because parents told me I wasn't "depressed enough" to need medication, or to "play the suicide card". Instead I self-medicated with St John's Wort until my late 20s. SSRIs are a heck of a lot more effective. Just because you're functioning, and still getting up, and going to class, or to work, and pushing through to meet other people's expectations, it doesn't mean you're okay. You are not supposed to be living with constant dread, self-hatred, and mental anguish. You are not supposed to be pretending to be okay, while wishing each day that you could just die, and not have to do it any more. You're not supposed to be planning out ways to kill yourself without being "selfish" and inconveniencing others. Life's not supposed to be that hard. If this is familiar, please go to your doctor, and ask for help.
I reget not taking a chance on myself earlier in life by moving out of my parents home. Instead, I've stayed in a toxic environment where I'm disregarded, disrespected and treated unfairly. My daughter deserves better than to see me treated like this from "family"
I got used to rejection and also missing opportunities in general because I just "knew" that the opportunity was never for me to begin with. Rejection is part of life, but I have gotten so used to being rejected that I just allow myself to miss out on every opportunity just to avoid rejection in the first place.
