She loved my spontaneity, my energy, my ability to make people laugh and feel loved. I had been dating my wife for four years by then. The second, was travelling the world and helping the poor and homeless. The first, was writing a utopic/dystopic book. I was innovative, creative, spontaneous, risk-taking and great with people. It seemed only yesterday when I was sure I was going to change the world. Let's start with a description of me when I was 20. I'll get to how those dreams were crushed soon. If my younger self had met me today, I would have punched myself in the face. All these things I thought I knew to be a certainty about myself when i was in my late teens and early twenties. I didn't complete my novel, travelling the world, helping the homeless.
I realised I missed my father's funeral FOR NOTHING. Today I found out my wife has been cheating on me for the last 10 years. I repeatedly chose the safe path for everything, which eventually changed who I was. I'm a 46 year old banker and I have been living my whole life the opposite of how I wanted.Īll my dreams, my passion, gone. I've been lurking for a while, but I've finally made an account to post this. My regrets as a 46 year old, and advice to others at a crossroad Hundreds of people have since responded to JohnJerryson, sharing their inspirational thoughts or pained empathy. Nearing middle age, JohnJerryson explains how he's wasted his life and become a stranger to himself. Usually, these posts are funny, unfortunate accidents that happen throughout the day.īut, this man posted his story with the title "TIFU my whole life." Redditor JohnJerryson, 46, posted on a forum called Today I F*cked Up. It's easy to settle for a job or a relationship, rather than make decisions that create the person you'd like to become. Often, we aren't even aware our lives aren't taking the shape we'd hoped.