If you had it to do again . . . - The Firearms Forum

Pistolenschutze · 04-02-2007, 04:40 PM

OK, how about an utterly ridiculous fantasy, just for fun? You just rescued your fairy godmother from a fate far worse than death. You convinced her NOT to vote for Hillary Clinton.

As a reward for such stawart and intelligent performance, she has granted you the one-time ability to turn back the clock to your choice of a younger age and relive your life from that point. Were this to happen, what age would you choose and why?

As for myself, I think I would choose 18, which would have been in 1967. I had just finished high school, and moved out of my parents' house to go to college. In the real world, I ended up attending for a bit over a year, decided I wanted to play soldier, served my time, came home, got married, had kids, got divorced, got married again, had more kids, and only when I was 38 did I finally go back to school and finish my education. If I could do it all over again, that's definitely one thing I would change. I would stay in school and finish my education, get an advanced degree, then--maybe--do the soldier thing. After that, I would teach, which is what I should have done with my life from the beginning, instead of waiting until I was in my 40s.

clmanges · 04-02-2007, 06:52 PM

I would never have gotten married.
By now I would have owned a paid-off house of my own, plus who knows what other goodies.

williamd · 04-02-2007, 09:27 PM

Was 18 when I got married. Have a paid off house, a great kid/professor, 4 bird dogs, 3 SUVs (all US) and a new Jag XK coupe (yep, two drivers at home but one is the dog's truck), hunted/fished all over US and Canada, lots of shooting beltbuckles/trophies, two safes chock full. I could skip part of my VN experience, but the USN gave me PG School. So, like many who work at it a bit I got more out of the service than I put into it. And, the bad times fade. Maybe I'd just go back to 18 and do it all over again!!! ... maybe not wait so long to get married. A few guns I sold I could keep!!

Pat Hurley · 04-02-2007, 09:35 PM

Regrets... I've had a few.... but then again... too few to mention....Dooobie doobie dooooo!

DWARREN123 · 04-02-2007, 11:18 PM

If I did it again I would probably mess it up worse than the first time.
I have not been the best person but I am trying.

358 winchester · 04-02-2007, 11:29 PM

GO BACK NO WAY
if you knew the things I have been able get through and still be alive you wouldn't even think about it.
I have been shot, blown have way across a river, adrift at sea, shot again, beaten and left for dead, rode a helio to the ground side ways & walked away, and them wasn't the bad days!!
And you want me to go back to 18 or so and try all that again.
NO THANKS I will just keep on keeping on and be happy to be here with most of my body parts still attached and some even working

pickenup · 04-02-2007, 11:29 PM

Was just talking to the wife the other day, and one of the FEW regrets that I have, is that I never tried skydiving. (did hang glide) Other than that, (and wrecking the van, causing my back problem) I’m REAL happy with the way my life turned out.

But……..

If we had to do it over again. Back in “69” I had two friends that wanted to go truckin. I chose to go with the one where we ended up seeing Janis Joplin for free, and partying with the band all night, in Iowa, of all places. On that same trip, we went to see Timothy Leary in Missouri. Only remember parts of that “trip.”

The other guy that wanted to go truckin, said something about New York. It was kind of vague EXACTLY where he was going. I had visions of concrete and buildings as far as the eye could see. No thanks. Come to find out, the term “New York” was a little misleading. It was New York, but the state, not the city.

A little place, of some notoriety, in upper New York that hosted a gathering of individuals, bands, song and dance. Would my life have taken different twists and turns, if I had chosen to go with the other friend, to Woodstock? Only my fairy godmother knows for sure.

glocknut · 04-03-2007, 07:59 AM

Such a discussion is mute because its not possible. But I'll play anyway....

Age 20. Skip buying the new Dodge and keep the Pontiac...stay in college...and when i met a woman named linda.....RUN AS THOUGH THE DEMONS OF H*LL WERE CHASING ME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Visit my grandparents more often. Alot of things...

mike
gn

rosierita · 04-03-2007, 10:03 AM

there are a few things that i wish i could change from the past, but i think i'm in that catagory of, i wouldnt redo it even if i could.

call me tired, call me content, hell call me crazy cuz i just may be....

Texman · 04-03-2007, 12:16 PM

Man, what an option.. First off I would listen to my old man when he was telling stories. I missed so many of them and he died last year.

WWII vet from B-24s. What stories he must have had. We are just now finding pages and pages of letters from then and pictures.. Who were those guys? And what were they doing? Well, never know now..

Thanks to him and all you vets.

Marlin · 04-03-2007, 12:57 PM

While I can think of a few things I would have done differently, I am content with my present life and really wouldn't want to go back and do it again.

As with all of us, there are bits and snatches that would be a pearl, but overall, it has been a fairly good journey.....

WarSteed · 04-03-2007, 06:05 PM

I would love to relive life knowing what i know now...however i don't want to relive half the crap i went through that's my personal badges of honor... Commercial fishing in Alaska and 4 yrs in the infantry wasn't the easiest.... Ahhh crap! The dilemma!

berto64 · 04-03-2007, 06:11 PM

Never been married, and have four adult children to prove it.

Bruce FLinch · 04-03-2007, 07:51 PM

REGRETS...I HAVE A BUNCH..BUT THEN AGAIN...I'VE LOST THE COUNT...DOOBIE DOOBIE DOO
Pat Hurley, you crack me up!

I could have partied a bit less, for sure. Finishing college would have been smarter. D'oh!

Cant complain too much, tho. Got a pretty good bed to lie in, & a good Woman to share it with.

berto64 · 04-03-2007, 10:50 PM

I can't say as I would want to do it again any different than the first time.

Without all the crap and mistakes I've lived thru and learned from I wouldn't be who I am today. And after all these years, I actually like myself.

I want to keep that feeling. Thanks anyway.

click · 04-03-2007, 11:20 PM

Pistol...such a simple question and such a complicated answer all at the same time!

I sincerely don't want to come off sounding like this is a bunch of BS, but when i was 18 (and Hurley it was a very good year)i hung out with a group of totally unknown,low key, guys who were really stupid and wanted to become actors of all things. Some of their names were Hackman,Pacino, a guy by the name of James Woods......you get the idea. Well in retrospect, the thought of putting on makeup just didn't sit very well with me at the time and so i declined to go to the various actors studios and workshops with the gang.

Regrets i have a few ..........

So i guess the answer is 18, makeup, light the lights, raise the curtain and hello world!! I'm going to ask a couple of those guys if i ever get the opportunity, what age they would choose and why. I wonder??.....................

By the way, i never became an actor, but ironically i have treated actors in my profession over the years and i always come out on the winning side of the equation

It just would have been more fun had i chosen the other path (kinda like the Wizard of Oz)

pickenup · 04-04-2007, 11:23 AM

Guess some people just don't want to play along.

Lead Lobber · 04-05-2007, 10:51 PM

I think that going back is going to erase any wisdom learned in the mean time, so what's the point, even if you can get to 88 mph?

LL

RahiemPT100 · 04-06-2007, 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lead Lobber

I think that going back is going to erase any wisdom learned in the mean time, so what's the point, even if you can get to 88 mph?

LL

Lead lobber has a point and a funny one too for all you back to the future fans..........but I'll play along;
I would go back to being probably 9 or 10 just learning to play baseball with my dad (had a hell of an arm before torn rotery cuff), playing pick up games of full contact football (this is before all the helmets and safety gear--got the broken arm to prove that one too). I think sometimes those were the best years I had.
I too didn't finish college but all things said and done my life isn't too bad. Job sucks but I got the girl. Took me 10 years to "chase her down" but all in all my life aint bad. I guess I too would have listened to my Dad more, but I am definitely a hard case when it comes to taking advice. Gotta do it and then find out what went wrong, not hear how to do it and then just get-r-done.

Marlin T · 04-06-2007, 04:01 AM

If I went back and changed anything, I wouldn't be where I'm at now. Right now, I'm happier than I've ever been.

xxxxxxl · 04-06-2007, 10:56 AM

I am afraid that if I went too far back I would not have the wonderful wife and kids that I have now. I guess that I would go back to right after I graduated from college and instead of getting a job as a biochemist I should have gone to medical school. I had the grades.

Pistolenschutze · 04-06-2007, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxxxxxl

I am afraid that if I went too far back I would not have the wonderful wife and kids that I have now. I guess that I would go back to right after I graduated from college and instead of getting a job as a biochemist I should have gone to medical school. I had the grades.

You're thinking along the same line as I was when I posted the thread, 6xl. Many of us, perhaps most, wouldn't want to give up the people we have in our lives now, but often there is that single decision we made, way back when, that changed the whole direction of our lives. For me it was not finishing school the first time around to become a teacher, and thus ending up spending over 20 years in a profession that never truly made me happy.

Lead Lobber · 04-09-2007, 11:21 PM

I tried doing it again, and she left me anyhow. Go figure out a woman.

LL

AL MOUNT · 04-10-2007, 06:28 AM

Feb. 21st 1968, just outside Hue, South Vietnam.

after crossing the creek, I would have entered the jungle 20' to the left

and shot the SOB before he had a chance to shoot me.....

azsigman · 04-10-2007, 10:24 AM

The main thing I would re-do is not start smoking. I'm now paying the piper for that 40 years of my life and it was not worth it. COPD sucks....
Other than that, I would have tried to not be such a jerk. 'nuf said.

04-02-2007, 04:40 PM	#1
Pistolenschutze Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 13,094	If you had it to do again . . . OK, how about an utterly ridiculous fantasy, just for fun? You just rescued your fairy godmother from a fate far worse than death. You convinced her NOT to vote for Hillary Clinton. As a reward for such stawart and intelligent performance, she has granted you the one-time ability to turn back the clock to your choice of a younger age and relive your life from that point. Were this to happen, what age would you choose and why? As for myself, I think I would choose 18, which would have been in 1967. I had just finished high school, and moved out of my parents' house to go to college. In the real world, I ended up attending for a bit over a year, decided I wanted to play soldier, served my time, came home, got married, had kids, got divorced, got married again, had more kids, and only when I was 38 did I finally go back to school and finish my education. If I could do it all over again, that's definitely one thing I would change. I would stay in school and finish my education, get an advanced degree, then--maybe--do the soldier thing. After that, I would teach, which is what I should have done with my life from the beginning, instead of waiting until I was in my 40s. __________________ --Pistolenschutze (Pistol Shooter) --> Last edited by Pistolenschutze; 04-02-2007 at 04:42 PM.. Reason: Spelling error

04-02-2007, 06:52 PM	#2
clmanges V.I.P. Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: NE Ohio Posts: 203	Re: If you had it to do again . . . I would never have gotten married. By now I would have owned a paid-off house of my own, plus who knows what other goodies. __________________ Happiness is a warm gun

04-02-2007, 09:27 PM	#3
williamd Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: SoCal Posts: 772	Re: If you had it to do again . . . Was 18 when I got married. Have a paid off house, a great kid/professor, 4 bird dogs, 3 SUVs (all US) and a new Jag XK coupe (yep, two drivers at home but one is the dog's truck), hunted/fished all over US and Canada, lots of shooting beltbuckles/trophies, two safes chock full. I could skip part of my VN experience, but the USN gave me PG School. So, like many who work at it a bit I got more out of the service than I put into it. And, the bad times fade. Maybe I'd just go back to 18 and do it all over again!!! ... maybe not wait so long to get married. A few guns I sold I could keep!! __________________ "Outlaw guns and only outlaws will have guns!" But, we are moving that direction. NRA Benefactor, Vet VN '64-'65 Never sell a gun or a car and you can retire right!!

04-02-2007, 09:35 PM	#4
Pat Hurley Former Guest Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Naples, Florida Posts: 987	Re: If you had it to do again . . . Regrets... I've had a few.... but then again... too few to mention....Dooobie doobie dooooo!

04-02-2007, 11:18 PM	#5
DWARREN123 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: BETWEEN TN & KY Posts: 764	Re: If you had it to do again . . . If I did it again I would probably mess it up worse than the first time. I have not been the best person but I am trying. __________________ Have a nice day!

04-02-2007, 11:29 PM	#6
358 winchester TFF Admin Staff Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Pensacola Fl. area Posts: 7,335	Re: If you had it to do again . . . GO BACK NO WAY if you knew the things I have been able get through and still be alive you wouldn't even think about it. I have been shot, blown have way across a river, adrift at sea, shot again, beaten and left for dead, rode a helio to the ground side ways & walked away, and them wasn't the bad days!! And you want me to go back to 18 or so and try all that again. NO THANKS I will just keep on keeping on and be happy to be here with most of my body parts still attached and some even working __________________ Administrator & Owner RangeDay.com Proud, White, Heterosexual, Gun Owning, Southern American, Christian. Any question about where I stand?

04-02-2007, 11:29 PM	#7
pickenup Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains Posts: 6,837	Re: If you had it to do again . . . Was just talking to the wife the other day, and one of the FEW regrets that I have, is that I never tried skydiving. (did hang glide) Other than that, (and wrecking the van, causing my back problem) I’m REAL happy with the way my life turned out. But…….. If we had to do it over again. Back in “69” I had two friends that wanted to go truckin. I chose to go with the one where we ended up seeing Janis Joplin for free, and partying with the band all night, in Iowa, of all places. On that same trip, we went to see Timothy Leary in Missouri. Only remember parts of that “trip.” The other guy that wanted to go truckin, said something about New York. It was kind of vague EXACTLY where he was going. I had visions of concrete and buildings as far as the eye could see. No thanks. Come to find out, the term “New York” was a little misleading. It was New York, but the state, not the city. A little place, of some notoriety, in upper New York that hosted a gathering of individuals, bands, song and dance. Would my life have taken different twists and turns, if I had chosen to go with the other friend, to Woodstock? Only my fairy godmother knows for sure. __________________ The gene pool needs chlorine

04-03-2007, 07:59 AM	#8
glocknut Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: THE FORUM MASCOTT... Posts: 12,482	Re: If you had it to do again . . . Such a discussion is mute because its not possible. But I'll play anyway.... Age 20. Skip buying the new Dodge and keep the Pontiac...stay in college...and when i met a woman named linda.....RUN AS THOUGH THE DEMONS OF H*LL WERE CHASING ME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Visit my grandparents more often. Alot of things... mike gn __________________ Where O where are you tonight? Why have you gone and left me alone? I searched to world over and a thought i found true love... You met another and PTThhh you were gone....

04-03-2007, 10:03 AM	#9
rosierita Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: South Carolina Posts: 5,218	Re: If you had it to do again . . . there are a few things that i wish i could change from the past, but i think i'm in that catagory of, i wouldnt redo it even if i could. call me tired, call me content, hell call me crazy cuz i just may be.... __________________

04-03-2007, 12:16 PM	#10
Texman V.I.P. Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 362	Re: If you had it to do again . . . Man, what an option.. First off I would listen to my old man when he was telling stories. I missed so many of them and he died last year. WWII vet from B-24s. What stories he must have had. We are just now finding pages and pages of letters from then and pictures.. Who were those guys? And what were they doing? Well, never know now.. Thanks to him and all you vets.

04-03-2007, 12:57 PM	#11
Marlin TFF Admin Staff Chief Counselor Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: At SouthernMoss' side forever! Contributor Posts: 13,853	Re: If you had it to do again . . . While I can think of a few things I would have done differently, I am content with my present life and really wouldn't want to go back and do it again. As with all of us, there are bits and snatches that would be a pearl, but overall, it has been a fairly good journey..... __________________ *The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing.* *The only criminal class native to the United States is Congress.*

04-03-2007, 06:05 PM	#12
WarSteed V.I.P. Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 188	Re: If you had it to do again . . . I would love to relive life knowing what i know now...however i don't want to relive half the crap i went through that's my personal badges of honor... Commercial fishing in Alaska and 4 yrs in the infantry wasn't the easiest.... Ahhh crap! The dilemma!

04-03-2007, 06:11 PM	#13
berto64 VMBB Admin Staff Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Owyhee County, Idaho Contributor Posts: 7,385	Re: If you had it to do again . . . Never been married, and have four adult children to prove it. __________________ Be who you are & say what you will, Those that matter won't mind and those that mind don't matter. I'm a bitter clinger, One Nation Under God.

04-03-2007, 07:51 PM	#14
Bruce FLinch Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Bay Point, Kali..aka Gun Point Posts: 5,016	Re: If you had it to do again . . . REGRETS...I HAVE A BUNCH..BUT THEN AGAIN...I'VE LOST THE COUNT...DOOBIE DOOBIE DOO Pat Hurley, you crack me up! I could have partied a bit less, for sure. Finishing college would have been smarter. D'oh! Cant complain too much, tho. Got a pretty good bed to lie in, & a good Woman to share it with. __________________ A bad day @ the Range, is better than a good day @ work.

04-03-2007, 10:50 PM	#15
berto64 VMBB Admin Staff Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Owyhee County, Idaho Contributor Posts: 7,385	Re: If you had it to do again . . . I can't say as I would want to do it again any different than the first time. Without all the crap and mistakes I've lived thru and learned from I wouldn't be who I am today. And after all these years, I actually like myself. I want to keep that feeling. Thanks anyway. __________________ Be who you are & say what you will, Those that matter won't mind and those that mind don't matter. I'm a bitter clinger, One Nation Under God.

04-03-2007, 11:20 PM	#16
click V.I.P. Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: usa Posts: 99	Re: If you had it to do again . . . Pistol...such a simple question and such a complicated answer all at the same time! I sincerely don't want to come off sounding like this is a bunch of BS, but when i was 18 (and Hurley it was a very good year)i hung out with a group of totally unknown,low key, guys who were really stupid and wanted to become actors of all things. Some of their names were Hackman,Pacino, a guy by the name of James Woods......you get the idea. Well in retrospect, the thought of putting on makeup just didn't sit very well with me at the time and so i declined to go to the various actors studios and workshops with the gang. Regrets i have a few .......... So i guess the answer is 18, makeup, light the lights, raise the curtain and hello world!! I'm going to ask a couple of those guys if i ever get the opportunity, what age they would choose and why. I wonder??..................... By the way, i never became an actor, but ironically i have treated actors in my profession over the years and i always come out on the winning side of the equation It just would have been more fun had i chosen the other path (kinda like the Wizard of Oz) __________________ bravery is the only one who knows you're afraid....

04-04-2007, 11:23 AM	#17
pickenup Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains Posts: 6,837	Re: If you had it to do again . . . Guess some people just don't want to play along. __________________ The gene pool needs chlorine

04-05-2007, 10:51 PM	#18
Lead Lobber Former Guest Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Central California coastal area Posts: 965	Re: If you had it to do again . . . I think that going back is going to erase any wisdom learned in the mean time, so what's the point, even if you can get to 88 mph? LL

04-06-2007, 04:01 AM	#20
Marlin T Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: New Mexico Posts: 7,857	Re: If you had it to do again . . . If I went back and changed anything, I wouldn't be where I'm at now. Right now, I'm happier than I've ever been. __________________ "But the simple truth--born of experience--is that tyranny thrives best where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people." Judge Alex Kozinski - United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government. - Thomas Paine Did you read todays GOOD shooting? >>>KEEPANDBEARARMS.COM <<<

04-06-2007, 10:56 AM	#21
xxxxxxl Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 547	Re: If you had it to do again . . . I am afraid that if I went too far back I would not have the wonderful wife and kids that I have now. I guess that I would go back to right after I graduated from college and instead of getting a job as a biochemist I should have gone to medical school. I had the grades.

04-09-2007, 11:21 PM	#23
Lead Lobber Former Guest Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Central California coastal area Posts: 965	Re: If you had it to do again . . . I tried doing it again, and she left me anyhow. Go figure out a woman. LL

04-10-2007, 06:28 AM	#24
AL MOUNT Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Cleaning my Thompson in The Foothills of the Ozark Mountains Posts: 3,107	Re: If you had it to do again . . . Feb. 21st 1968, just outside Hue, South Vietnam. after crossing the creek, I would have entered the jungle 20' to the left and shot the SOB before he had a chance to shoot me..... __________________ 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment 101st Airborne Division Vietnam 67-68

04-10-2007, 10:24 AM	#25
azsigman V.I.P. Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Flagstaff, Arizona Posts: 320	Re: If you had it to do again . . . The main thing I would re-do is not start smoking. I'm now paying the piper for that 40 years of my life and it was not worth it. COPD sucks.... Other than that, I would have tried to not be such a jerk. 'nuf said.