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Original poster

Do you ever just wish you could wake up at 16 again?

50 replies

Regretsfordays · 11/05/2024 17:41

Going through a bad patch mentally. Think the type can’t wait to go to bed at night just to shut out from reality. have a nice life from the outside looking in but I actually sobbed earlier because I just want to turn back the clock to 16 and just live such a different life. People think because I’ve a good career I’m set for life. Little do they know I would live in a tent with no career and be happy rather than feel the way I do.

OP posts:
TwigTheWonderKid · 11/05/2024 18:19

Until recently I would definitely have said no, because I have a lovely life now and my teens and twenties were not great. But now I have a terminal cancer diagnosis, the idea of re-living the last 40 years is very appealing.

I am so sorry you are feeling so rubbish OP. Are you getting any help?

Passmetheaero · 11/05/2024 18:41

100%. I would change absolutely everything including career choice and especially choice of DH. In fact I’d move abroad and stay single.

fieldsofbutterflies · 11/05/2024 18:44

No, I was miserable at 16.

Greywitch2 · 11/05/2024 18:44

Oh no. I was utterly miserable through my teens. I would never want to be that person again. I was so utterly wrapped up in the fact that I wasn't pretty.

I'm post menopausal now and couldn't give a shit whether people think I'm pretty. I'm not, obviously. Never was. No longer care.

Cheepcheepcheep · 11/05/2024 18:45

Absolutely not.

katseyes7 · 11/05/2024 18:47

God, yes. If it was back in the 70s.
I had a wonderful, handsome, talented (musician) boyfriend who was my best friend's big brother, we went to amazing places and had fantastic experiences.
I'd go back in a heartbeat. More so because he died far too young, in his mid 40s, over 30 years ago. I loved him then and l still do.

Cerialkiller · 11/05/2024 18:47

I too was miserable. Undiagnosed autism, dyslexia and SAD for years. I wouldn't mind going back to my mid twenties though.

youngestisapsycho · 11/05/2024 18:48

Passmetheaero · 11/05/2024 18:41

100%. I would change absolutely everything including career choice and especially choice of DH. In fact I’d move abroad and stay single.

Me too 🙋🏼‍♀️

MotherFeministWoman · 11/05/2024 18:48

God no, I nearly didn't survive it the first time round.

rkahic · 11/05/2024 18:50

Absolutely, different A levels which I could pass, different career path, different partner, more of them before settling down, maybe never settling down, who knows

Poachedeggavocado · 11/05/2024 18:51

Are we allowed to know everything we now know? In which case yes, I was this age in the late 80s. The music was amazing, the fashion was fun. My home life wasn't great and I made a lot of mistakes due to needing attention etc but if I could go back and not engage with any of the stupid boys and just dance at an outdoor rave again and maybe work a bit harder at my A levels, I definitely would.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 11/05/2024 18:56

I would, but with the life experience and wisdom (!) that I have now at 50.

MissMarplesNiece · 11/05/2024 19:01

Id go back in a heartbeat.

BusyMintCrab · 11/05/2024 19:04

In some ways yes, there are so so so many things I would do differently!

But at the same time, that period of life (teens/twenties) is so difficult, so I’m not sure I’d really want to do that again.

If it’s your career/job you hate, you can change it! Life is too short to be unhappy, really.

DilemmaDelilah · 11/05/2024 19:05

Yes I would, but only with the self-knowledge and confidence that I have now.

BirthdayRainbow · 11/05/2024 19:07

I'd like to be a different age, to 16, maybe 18 then I could change everything that happened after.

Wouldn't marry the man I did.
Would have stayed with my true LOML.
So many things I wish I could change.

I'm divorcing the man I did marry.
I have him back.
I'm looking to the future.

feellikeanalien · 11/05/2024 19:10

DilemmaDelilah · 11/05/2024 19:05

Yes I would, but only with the self-knowledge and confidence that I have now.

Absolutely agree with this.

HangingOnJustAbout · 11/05/2024 19:11

Not unless I retained my knowledge. It'd just be the same shit show over again, I'm happy now.

OP, I do hope this is a temporary situation for you. Are you able to get a plan together to work towards the life you want?

MissAmbrosia · 11/05/2024 19:12

Christ no. Maybe mid 30s where I would have made different decisions about certain things.

BigButtons · 11/05/2024 19:13

Deffo not 16. Late 20s would be better.

Watfrordmummy · 11/05/2024 19:13

Never!!

I wouldn't want to live through the exams, undiagnosed dyslexia meant I had full on panic attacks which I didn't disclose, just sat there thinking I was going to die.

Wouldn't want to go my 20s again, in an abusive relationship.

I love where I am now, nearly 58 and happy with who I am as a person.

mondaytosunday · 11/05/2024 19:16

OMG no! Now 38... I was at my thinnest and fittest and was enjoying an active dating life, owned my own home and was doing ok.

Original poster
Regretsfordays · 11/05/2024 19:17

I would love to go back. I was happy for about 2 years and I’ve crashed all over again.

OP posts:
ManchesterLu · 11/05/2024 19:18

There's so much I'd like to change, but at the same time I'm not sure it'd make things any better. So I think I'm probably best staying as I am, and just trying to make positive changes from here.

GiveYourHeadAWobble · 11/05/2024 19:18

I prefer my life now than my life at 16, but I do get very nostalgic at times. Do you think you might be mistaking nostalgia for wanting to go back?