There are certain things in life that people will always warn you against: don’t sleep in contact lenses, don’t marry someone you just met, don’t eat yellow snow, don’t talk to strangers, that kind of thing. Yet despite all the warnings, sometimes we just have to learn the lesson the hard way. In some cases, all the warnings are wrong — as we all know, there are exceptions to every rule.
Here are some women’s responses to the Reddit question, “What’s something that everyone warned you about, but you did it anyway?”
Things that didn’t turn out well:
“Marrying young. They were absolutely correct.” –EnvironmentalLuck515
“Accepted an open drink from a guy I just met. They were right and I would give anything to take that moment back.” –Star-Sole_
“To be careful when I was ‘taking advantage’ of men by not following through with physical implications after they were financially generous with me. Two of them actually didn’t take no for an answer and they had the power, and resources to rape me without consequences. [Edit: I am the happiest I’ve been in my life and this was a few years back now. I’ve learned so much and am better for it. As cliche as it sounds, I am a very strong person now.]” –ProblematicByProxy
“Hitchhiking. I lived in the country and my parent refused to drive me anywhere or would not loan me the car once I could drive. They did not care that I hitchhiked. I did it while I was 17-18. I was 5’6”, tiny, and not unattractive. If guardian angels exist, mine was working overtime. Thankfully nothing bad ever happened. Just some creepy weirdness sometimes.” –BarbarianFoxQueen
“Being an adult entertainer. I regret it since I started so young. Feels like it ate at my 20s.” –Physical-Designer69
“Chose to be the stay-at-home parent. Now I’m trapped.” –theonlygurl
“Dating a 27 year old at 17. I dated him for five years and regret it. I know my life would look a lot different now if I hadn’t, but in a positive way.” –karsizzle
“Married the first guy that came along. He was a deadbeat. Should have gotten to know him better. But no. I was caught in the magic of it all.” –Dr__Pheonx
Things that ended up great:
“Most big decisions of my life. Moving abroad, spending all my 20s in higher education, dating someone younger than me. Yet everything turned out great.” –Practical-Okra-6944
“I got engaged to my now husband after 6 months of dating and almost everyone said it was a bad idea. We’ve been happily married for years now. Best decision of my life. When you know, you know.” –Lilli_Puff
“Majoring in English in college. I was told I would never get a job and that it was a worthless degree. Suckas! I have a great job and can problem solve and communicate way better than the business/marketing/econ majors I work with.” –clea_vage
“Everyone warned me choosing to not have kids would make me miserable and regretful, especially in my 40’s+. I still chose to not have kids anyway. Boy were they wrong. I’m 43 now and blissfully happy with my husband and our adorable cat. It’s funny because everyone who warned me had multiple kids and hated their home life.” –CutePandaMiranda
“Got a dog despite all the feedback about not to because “it will be bad for your future children”. I’m never having children, lol. Don’t like them. But I LOVE my dog. He’s the best!” –yankeesoba
“Marrying young. Don’t regret.
Moving continents. Don’t regret.
Swinging. Don’t regret.” –WendyWestaburger
