When younger, we make various choices and decisions without the future in mind. Hasty, unthoughtful choices. Those choices bite us in our mid-life. These are some of the things one might regret when we become older.

1. Marrying the wrong person

When you are young, check your motives for marrying. Don’t just marry to imitate your peers, or for social standing or out of pressure. Marry for love and companionship, marry the right person, marry your best friend. If you marry the wrong person or for the wrong reasons, you will have to put up with that person for the rest of your life. Things might get worse between you two. You may have to deal with depression, physical abuse, pain, shame, court cases, and even bitterness. It will be worse when children are involved.

2. The opportunities you did not seize

When you are younger many doors will open. You will get many chances. Many young people let these opportunities go because of fear, laziness, or pride. Meanwhile, it is when you are younger and with more energy that you should start a venture and make a name for yourself. Some think the opportunities are too big for them.

You had better take advantage of them or one day when you are older, you will want to go back and grab those missed chances.

3. The bridges you burned

When we are younger, we care little for relationships, what most think about is getting money and moving up the ladder of success at all cost. Many use and trample on people to progress. They take relationships for granted, messing up bonds, sleeping with people for personal gains. But these bad actions will catch up with you ahead, when you will realize how empty life is without love and friends, when you will have success but no one around you to celebrate with or no one to trust you.

4. The child you rejected

You impregnated a lady, she told you she is pregnant with your child. You rejected her and the baby and ran away. But years later when you are fifty or over, you will wish you were responsible, you will wish you manned up and became a father to that child. You will see that child excel and become a responsible person and you will blame yourself for your actions.

5. The marriage you destroyed

You got married to your good fiancee. The few months in marriage were good but shortly after, with your money and charm, you started having affairs with other girls. You become unfaithful. Your spouse begged you to stop. Your children started hurting, your marriage was collapsing.

One day when you are older, it will hit you how foolish you were to destroy the good marriage you had began to build for mere temporary thrills in affairs that did you no good. It is then you will realize the damage you caused to your children and spouse.

6. The body you messed up

Taking care of your body is a necessity. You have only one body to live with all your life. The cigarettes, the alcohol you are abusing, the drugs you are taking, the unhealthy food you are consuming, will destroy you slowly. When you are fifty and lifestyle diseases catch up with you, you will wish you took care of your body when you were younger, that you exercised more and lived healthy, but now the damage is done.

7. The dreams and talents you shelved

Are you talented when young? Are there things you love to do and you are good at? Nurture those talents, exploit them, don’t give up even if you encounter set backs, don’t give up on your dreams. If you give up, when you are older you will look at your peers who stuck to what they love and made it and think to yourself, “That could have been me”. Pursue a career, study a course you love. Don’t waste years of your life in a field that doesn’t fulfill you.

8. The name you defamed

When you are older, a legacy is very important. The value of your name is crucial. You will ask yourself what is your reputation, what are you leaving behind. Your legacy is a sum total of your actions since youthful days. We write our biography by how we live life everyday. When you look back your path and you see the mud you threw at your own name, the shame you attracted and the little value you have added to the world, you will regret.

9. The wealth you threw away

Are you riding on good money during your productive years? Earning good money? Don’t throw away that money in clubs, reckless living and wasteful shopping. Invest with that money, widen your revenue stream, make that money work for you and keep it safe to take care of you in your older years. Leave an inheritance for your loved ones so that you will never say ‘I wish I knew better’.

10. The parents you despised

When younger, it is easy to show contempt to our parents. We always think they are old-fashioned, shady and small-minded. But our parents are still our parents, whether we agree with them or not, whatever their style. Don’t let your parent die untimely. Don’t let old age separate you from them. When you get older, you will realize why your parents wanted to be close to you.

The older you get, the more you will see their value.