People Are Sharing What Decisions Reduced Their Life Quality, And It's Eye-Opening (50 Answers)

Skipped the mammograms cause I had a “it’ll never happen to me” attitude when I was younger. Now I’m laying on a bed at a breast center waiting to get 5 biopsies for suspicious spots.

Went rock climbing one day without a helmet on. The first time I didn’t have it on was the day it needed to be. A Severe TBI is an injury I wish upon no man, woman or child. 🥴.

Trusting in wrong "friends"

But then again, we learn by mistakes.

Vaped. Been 9 months without it and still cough and get winded easily. Used to sing as well and I can't hit notes for s**t these days.

Was born and raised in high demand religion I wish I had the courage to leave earlier.

I ignored that voice in my head telling me to distance myself from my family ASAP. Was a teenager when I started thinking about it, and I ignored it and, as I grew older, suppressed it… I thought it was just me being “dramatic” and reacting in an emotional way (like my family would say). 18 years later I finally went no-contact and have spent half my time feeling so free and light and happy, and the other half grieving for the time lost denying that voice.

When it comes to our individual survival, we gotta trust our instincts and intuition. Every d**n time.

Not chosing a second cesarean after the first emergency one. During the birth of my second child my levator ani ("pelvic floor muscle") ruptured, making it no longer connected to wherever it should be attached to. I did not even know this was a major risk with vaginal births after a cesarean and quite frankly did not know that that could happen at all. Now I might not be able to jump, jog, run or walk fast in my life ever again without my organs quite literally falling out of me. This not only nuked all of my Volleyball activities (which was my primary hobby and I played fourth league in Germany) but it also left me with an extremely weak bladder. Talk about quality of life. And the real kicker? There simply is no way of attaching the muscle back to where it belongs. This is the current state of research and medical procedure. So I can really say "Bye!" to any form of active lifestyle.

Stayed in a long term relationship with someone struggling with a*******n and alcoholism because I saw the a*******ns as a type of mental illness, and what sort of partner would I be if I abandoned him when he was sick?

Then, I had my first serious illness since we had met, and missed a lot of work, had to stay home for almost a month, and he was unemployed at this time. He started to get very obviously irritated with me; for being home all day so he didn’t have any alone time, for making him feel the pressure of returning to work because I wasn’t working so I wasn’t bringing in any income. I suddenly had this moment of clarity where I realized he was the only one allowed to be sick in our dynamic, and while I had been playing nurse for years, he really didn’t like when I got to be sick—as if it was a choice—especially when it interfered with his routine. I left him a few months later when my health improved.

He passed away about a year later, as his health deteriorated rapidly after I stopped caring for him. I definitely feel some guilt in the matter even though I know I can’t blame myself for the poor choices of an adult man who was almost in his 50s.

Spent so many years obsessing over other peoples lives, celebrities especially.

DamnitGravity:
Living vicariously through others or daydreaming is so poisonous.
-Sincerely, Maladaptive Daydreamer.

Attempted s*****e through car accident.

Did NOT get result i was looking for (at the time...no worries, i'm all good now, therapy, meds, etc.) just ended up with a bunch of f****d up bones, enough metal holding me together to qualify as a runner up for the Bionic Man, missing teeth, permanent jaw pain, a limp, and a little bit of brain damage causing periodic absence seizures.

0/10 would NOT RECOMMEND.

Holding out for a management position instead of moving on. He simply won't retire. The man is mid 70's.

I was jumping on our kids’ trampoline and I hurt my back and I’ve suffered sciatica pain all these years since. My life would be so much better if I had not thought jumping on a trampoline would be good exercise.

Dwelling on the past.

I didn’t go to the dentist for a few years in my 20s. No one was making me any more, and it was just a pain to schedule things. I thought I was doing all right. Turns out, I wasn’t. Had to deal with a lot of issues connected to that poor choice. Still dealing with them a little bit because I have to be vigilant and my dental checkups are a little more expensive because of it. 

Kids, and young adults, don’t skip the dental appointments. Trust me. .

Stayed in my college major even after I knew it wasn't for me. I wasted a lot of time that I can never get back.

I left walmart after 15 years to be a store manager at starbucks.


worst mistake of my life.


I remember nights I was there at ten after a closer called off just to have an opener call out and knowing i'd have to wake up in four hours and work another shift and hope the same thing didn't happen again.

just awful, and the stories i'd hear interviewing people I had no idea how bad fast food was. People from other companies wanted to work at starbucks cause those places were even worse.

Care about what EVERYONE thinks of me.

Not saving and instead maxing out credit cards in my 20s.

Living with a bf who rages.

Running too much in bad shoes. Now I have arthritis in my foot and I can't run anymore.