A list of things that we regret not doing in our 20s

邓美娟

Life is filled with regrets. Ask anyone around you whattheir regrets are and they usually have no difficulty coming upwith many items on their "regret list". And for some reasonour twenties are ripe for a field of regrets.

Perhaps it' s because as we get older we look back onthat period of adulthood as the height of freedom andautonomy. As move into middle age， we look back and wishthat we had made better choices and taken moreopportunities. Here ' s a list of things that we regret not doingin our 20s.

人生總是充满遗憾。问问你周围的人他们有没有遗憾的事情，他们会轻而易举的列出一大堆“遗憾清单”。由于某些原因，20多岁是最容易犯错的年纪。

也许是因为随着年龄的增长，当我们再次回顾那段时光，会发现那是一段充满自由和独立的时光。随着我们步入中年，我们经常希望：要是我们能再有更多选择的机会多好啊！以下就列举了一些如果我们在20来岁没有做就会让我们后悔的事情：1. Travelling more

I regret not travelling more. and so does nearlyeveryone that I have asked. Before kids， and mortgages andmarriages， when our commitments and expenses werelower. the opportunities for travel were much greater. butfor some reason many of us thought we ' d always have timefor travel later.

We dreamed of visiting the pyramids of Egypt， surfingoff the Hawaiian coast. dining at a Parisian cafe， drinkingespresso in Rome， trekking through the rainforest. and somuch more. Sadly， many of us never made these journeysand the opportunity passed us by.

2. Investing early

How many times have we kicked ourselves for notstarting our 40IKs. in our twenties， for not putting our excesscash in long term investments. for not investing in our futureearly. No matter how much we try， we can never get backthe head start that we missed. Playing catch up in our 40' sand 50 ' s is very difficult.

3. Being more responsible with spending

In order to invest in our retirement or save for that downpayment， we would have needed to make wiser financialspending choices. Things like buying or holding on to thatperfectly reliable used car. instead of splurging on the newmodel...because we could， eating out less and saving for ahouse instead， buying fewer shoes and purses and clothesand paying off student loans sooner. So many savingopportunities lost， money spent on tangible things， insteadof on the future.

4. Better planning

I regret not focusing more on where l wanted to go inlife. what I wanted to do. who I wanted to be and what itwould take to get there. With some more planning in ourtwenties. we' d be further ahead in our 40s and perhaps a bithappier as well.1.多旅行

我后悔没有到更多的地方去旅行，而且几乎我问过的每个人都会这样说。在有孩子之前、在抵押贷款和结婚之前，在我们需要承担的责任和花销较少时，正是旅游的大好机，但是由于种种原因，我们总觉得我们以后会有更多的时间去旅行。

我们梦想过去埃及看金字塔，在夏威夷海边冲浪，在巴黎的咖啡馆共进晚餐，在罗马品尝香浓的咖啡，徒步穿越热带雨林等等诸如此类的计划。可悲的是，大部分人都没有付诸行动，只是看着机会白白溜走。 2.早投资 多少次回想我们都恨不得踢自己一脚：为什么不在20来岁就开始40IK（美国的一种养老金制度）计划，为什么没有将多余的现金用于长期投资，为什么没有早早的为我们未来投资。不管我们再怎么努力，错过的时光都不会重来了。等到我们四五十岁的时候再奋起直追已为时已晚了。

3.更合理地安排支出

为了退休后的投资或房子的首付，我们需要更合理的理财。比如说买一辆不错的二手车，而不是把钱浪费在新款车型上……我们也可以减少外出就餐，攒钱买房子，少买点鞋子和衣服，提前还清助学贷款。这么多的攒钱机会都错过了，我们用钱换来了很多实实在在的物品，却没有更多关注我们的未来。

4.更好地规划人生

我后悔我没有仔细思考我的人生道路，我想要做的事情，我想成为一个什么样的人以及如何才能实现。如果在20多岁的时候我们能更好地规划人生，我们在40多岁的时候就会更上一层楼，也许还会感觉到更幸福。

5. Seizing more experiences

I wish I had leamed to ski and paint， speak Italian anddo the Tango. I regret not living somewhere else beforesettling down. Others have said they regret not pursuing theirhobbies or learning to sky dive or mountain climb. l prefer tostay on the ground. but I do regret not leaming more. nottrying new things that are hard to fit into the life of a fortysomething working wife and mother.

6. Living a more active lifestyle

The bodies of youth are wasted on the young_ l wish Ihad run a marathon before my knees ached. that I had bikedmore. hiked more. and took spinning classes when my legswere stronger. I regret not joining a softball team orvolleyball league. We don' t often realize that we havesquandered our physical abilities until things start aching andcreaking.

7. Making more friends

I regret not reaching out more， putting more effort intocreating a tribe of support that would carry me through moredifficult times. We socialize sure， but many of us don' t putenough importance on building deep and lasting friendships.Some do， many don' t and wish they had.

8. Pursuing a more meaningful career

Many of us wish we had taken more career risks， optedfor meaning over money ， pursued the career path we wantedinstead of what we were expected to do or simply followingthe path that was laid out before us. How much better to haveexplored our options and pursued meaningful work in ourt，^renties than to have spent 20 years doing something we don ' t love.

Life is good; don' t misunderstand. Few of us walkaround every day pining for our youth， at least I hope not，but we do occasionally look back with a wistful sigh and wishthat we planned more， lived more. and stretched ourselvesmore when we had the freedom and energy to do so.

5.更多的人生体验

我多希望我以前学会了滑雪、画画，会说意大利语，会跳探戈;我后悔在安定下来之前没有在别的地方生活过。很多人也都和我一样后悔没有持之以恒地培养自己的爱好，没有学跳伞，没有去爬山。我确实更喜欢务实，但也很后悔沒有去学更多的东西，没有尝试新事物，这些事物已经无法再融入一个40岁的全职妻子加母亲的生活中了。

6.更积极向上的生活方式

年轻的时候，我们肆意地挥霍着我们的青春活力……我多想在我膝关节疼痛之前能跑场马拉松，多骑骑自行车、多走走看看，在腿脚强健的时候多骑骑动感单车。我后悔没有参加垒球社团或排球联盟。总是等到体力透支病痛来袭，我们才意识到年轻时锻炼的可贵。

7.交更多的朋友

我后悔没有更多的伸出手去，没有更努力去结交那么一伙儿可以陪我度过更多艰难时光的朋友。我们确实也有交际，但是大多数人并没有把重心放在建立更深更持久的友情上面。一些人做到了，但是还有很多人却没有，他们希望当初曾为友情努力过。

8.追求一份更有意义的职业

大部分人都是遵循别人的期待去工作或者按照别人铺好的路去走，而不愿冒更多的职业风险和遵循我们的内心去工作挣钱。比起20多年一直从事自己不喜欢的工作，能在20多岁时自己选择并去追求一份更有意义的工作是多么的好啊！

毋庸置疑，生活是美好的。很少有人每天四处走走缅怀我们的青春，但是我们确实会偶尔若有所思地边叹气边回忆：多么希望当我们身心自由和精力旺盛的时候，能有更多的计划、更多的活法去扩展自己。