Starting over - What would you do different?

I've often looked back and thought 'what if' about several landmark moments n my life, some good and some not so good. But whenever I do I count my blessings and as a result I have to say I wouldn't change a thing. As an example, I have two beautiful daughters and if they had not been conceived at the times they were, with the exact sperms from many millions and the exact eggs from their mother, they would be two completely different people. All a bit deep I know, but I wouldn't swap my wife and children for anything not even a Premier League title for my beloved Norwich City FC !!!

 

My biggest regret has been that I wasn't born in Norfolk and then I could have supported a really decent team! I shall carry this heavy burden for the rest of my life!

 

I imagine you must cry yourself to sleep every night shaking your fist at the cruel blow fate dealt you being born so close but yet so far away from God's own county.

Still we're a welcoming bunch here and wouldn't hold your misfortune not to be born here against you should you choose to move away from the dark side!!!

 

Hiya mate it's been ages, hope you are keeping well.

I think Dave would have ripped or burned those papers by now!

 

I am like one or two others who would be terrified of changing anything for fear of upsetting what I have now.
I have two sons, both middle aged now I suppose. I have 9 grandchildren and one great grandchild (another on the way). I have a terrific lifestyle, I don't have to work anymore which at 62 is a blessing. I play golf whenever I want. The beach is less than three miles away. I have countryside to stare at front the back of my house. I have just been with my wife to sort her horses out in the middle of the countryside but less than a mile from my house. And I live in a place that is more like a neighbourhood than a town. We have just popped into town on the way back and it's "hiya" or "alright you two" up and down the main street. A sense of belonging by people who are genuine. I have a lifestyle that suits me and mine perfectly. Yes, I have done Euromillions tonight, but to be honest there isn't too much more I want or need.
In my past, my main claim to fame is that if you have enjoyed the benefits of using paternity leave in your job, I was the guy who first brought it into use when as a Union Secretary in NZ, I successfully introduced it into wage claims in the mid 70's more from self interest than anything else. So if I could change anything, it would not be anything personal, but as a socialist, I would like to see the welfare state restored to what it was set up for. No scroungers but nobody going without either. If there's no greed there's no envy either.

 

I would have got away with more crimes and spent less time in Strangeways, Pentonville and HMP Norwich, although you can see out over Mousehold heath if you get lucky with the cell

 

I said Norfolk not Yorkshire!

 

Glad to hear it Maestro we must have that beer in Cambridge some time! I'm going to the Folk Festival this year if your up for it!

 

Great question. I think it's very easy for people to regret and beat themselves up over how life has panned out for them, I see it as a continuous learning experience, you can always try something out.

If I was to do things differently. I'd put a lot more effort into school/college and done something creative. For my teenage years I lacked direction and mucked about too much, in a way I'm to blame for that but at the end of the day unless you plan to go to University in this country the education system in a way fails you.

Currently I do an office job it pays reasonably well, I've been here for six years, its not creative so in a way it can be frustrating but at the same time it funds me and has payed for a lot of excellent things.

In the evening I do sound production and DJ. Also I'm trying to find out how to get into designing nightclubs, bars, casinos, pubs that type of thing as I have a lot of big ideas, which I'm confident will work.

It helps to have hobbies which can push you closer towards achieving your dreams, if you don't there at least you've tried rather then someone who sits there feeling sorry for themselves.

 

I guess that must be to do with our age Redruth.My dad always used to come home on election day and after he had washed off the grime after a day as a motor mechanic he would say "Come on boy,we'll go and strike a blow for freedom".He started work in 1926 and always believed that things would get better,as indeed they did for a while.

As a businessman I never followed the Tory logic.I always thought that the difference between me as a reasonably successful one and those who failed had a lot to do with luck and I still think that.If I had started in 2007 instead of 1977 I would have undoubtedly sunk without trace.Most who have succeeded recently have either had rich parents or have been crooks,and in many cases both.

 

Oddly enough, I was born in Suffolk (Bury St Edmunds) but thankfully saw the light at an early age !!

 

Lowestoft,but then the town was split 50/50 football wise.Always preferred Norfolk though.Can there be anyone who would rate Ipswich as a nicer place than Norwich to live?

 

Not that old chestnut again!

Norwich is far nicer than Ipswich but in East Anglia the nicest place to live is Cambridge which is vastly superior!

Dimbers hosted Question Time from Ipswich last night and I thought the audience asked and raised some very interesting points so I guess that not all Suffolk people are "Silly"!

 

That is bloody brilliant!

 

No regrets from me, I've been all over the world, played sport at a high level, married a sensational woman, got a fit and healthy family, not rich but not hard up, never been out of work, just got promoted.
One or two things I do think about though, the "what if's"
In the early 1970's while working in California, I met and fell for the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, her name was Kim, she was Vietnamese, a classically stunning girl, long straight jet black hair, beautiful figure and complexion, I was smitten big time. We had a couple of years together, then I had to come back home (can't remember the reason now), but the long and short of it was that I didn't go back! I have been back to that part of the world many times since but never plucked up the courage to try and find her again! What would my life be like now if I had stayed?
I've got an Engineering degree, which has stood me in good stead, but I often wonder what if I hadn't gone that route? I guess my life would have been totally different, I certainly wouldn't have met my wife!

 

ILD Seriously mate never try and go back! I speak from one that knows the heartache of going back to reignite a relationship and it is never the same. I met the most beautiful girl in the world back in the Mid 80s, she was a real stunner and had a lovely warm nature. Like a fool I went and blew it big time (grass always greener) and then about 10 years later I found her again. We ended up getting married and then a bitter divorce followed and I'm still trying to put my life back together after 8 years!

Still I've always got the support of my beloved Ipswich Town to keep my spirits up!

 

It's nice reading through this to see that on-the-whole people are happy with their lot in life. Being at the younger end of the spectrum on here, I'm not sure I've realised what mistakes I've made yet, but I'm doing a degree I enjoy in a place I love, and that sounds like a decent start to adulthood to me.

 

That's a cracker JWM !!

(It's the way he tells 'em)