News

<p>Our teen years don&#39;t last forever, but the memories do. And, unfortunately, the after-effects of the worst teen decisions can last far longer than our youth.</p><p>While most teen gaffes quickly fade away into the entertaining arsenal of stories, some permeate our psyche or physical circumstances far longer.</p><h2>In <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/oumt5g/which_mistake_did_you_make_as_a_teenager_is_still/" target="_blank">a popular Reddit thread</a>, people shared the mistake they made as teen that is still affecting them to this day.</h2><h2>1. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/CrippleOverlord/">CrippleOverlord</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>Not wearing my seatbelt. At least my wheelchair is fast.</p> <p>Edit: Thank you kind strangers! I&#39;ll keep these awards buckled in with me!</p> </blockquote><h2>2. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Megafiend/">Megafiend</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>Started drinking to counter social anxiety.</p> </blockquote><h2>3. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/BlowBallSavant/">BlowBallSavant</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>Punching a wall. Hit the stud. The fracture in my hand didn&rsquo;t properly heal as well as losing the use of two of my tendons which makes opening my hand a nuisance. As you could imagine it was my dominant hand. My life isn&rsquo;t hell from it but boy If I could go back in time to my teenage years, that&rsquo;s when I&rsquo;d go.</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><blockquote> <p>Please please please!!!! If you ever feel like you need to hit something for whatever reason please hit something soft and not living, like a pillow. Your delicate hands will thank you down the road.</p> </blockquote><h2>4. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/jreindel1/">jreindel1</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>Nicotine. Smoked a pack a day for almost 15 years, started when I was 16-17 Finally quit 100% about a year ago when my wife and I found out we were expecting.</p> </blockquote><blockquote> <p>I&#39;ve been really good, and haven&#39;t had a single smoke, but I&#39;m not gonna lie, at least once a day I think &quot;damn a cigarette would be good right now.&quot;</p> </blockquote><h2>5. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/justanobody123456/">justanobody123456</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>I said a lot of stupid sh*t with my actual name as the username on social media. Thankfully I have a common name but it will be in the back of my head for the rest of my life.</p> </blockquote><h2>6. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Hazzmeister72/">Hazzmeister72</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>Gambling excessively, that s**t is dangerous man, just don&rsquo;t do it.</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>7. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Bob_N_Frapples/">Bob_N_Frapples</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>Sharing needles with other people (when I was 16).</p> <p>Spent the next 40 years with Hepatitis C and did two unsuccessful Interferon treatments that lasted a total of 22 months. Fortunately, got cured in 2015 with a 90-day treatment of Harvoni, but still, I spent a lot of time effort during some very important years trying to get well.</p> </blockquote><h2>8. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/dogandbutterfly1978/">dogandbutterfly1978</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>Dropping out of college to get married. Going back in my 30s with adult responsibilities and a full time job was the most chaotic time of my life.</p> </blockquote><h2>9. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/FourTV/">FourTV</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>Blindly accepting college loans assuming future me would be able to handle it. Future me is now present me and it&#39;s not very enjoyable.</p> </blockquote><h2>10. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Glittering_Cup9438/">Glittering_Cup9438</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>Developing a drug habit. So much wasted time and money on short-lived experiences.</p> <p>Edit: WOW did not expect this when I came back today. My most upvoted post and it&rsquo;s on my alt account lol. Thanks guys and girls! For anyone wondering my drug of choice was cocaine.</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>11. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Dagusiu/">Dagusiu</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>Not asking my parents for help with finding things I really enjoyed doing. I think maybe if I&#39;d joined a chess club or something like that, I&#39;d actually have had a lot more fun and made some friends. I was really lonely for a long time and it wasn&#39;t easy to make up for the lack of social development during those important years.</p> </blockquote><h2>12. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/maddix30/">maddix30</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>Not going out with friends enough. I would often turn down invites out and now everyone is busy with their own lives and meeting can be hard sometimes.</p> </blockquote><h2>13. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/AlterEdward/">AlterEdward</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>It&#39;s not so much of an issue now, but it really bit me in the ass when I tried to make it on my own.</p> </blockquote><blockquote> <p>I was incredibly lazy and unambitious. I didn&#39;t have any job experience, any extracurricular activities, no hobbies, no clubs. I had <em>nothing</em> going for me. It&#39;s pretty hard to get hired based on nothing but your own assurance that you&#39;ll do a good job.</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>14. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Nexola/">Nexola</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>My mom was always too scared I&#39;d hurt myself during P.E class in school, so she always would write me notes to give to the gym teacher that I couldn&#39;t participate in class. Every single day...</p> <p>I wanted to tell my mom I wanted to not just participate in class, but that I also wanted to play sports.</p> <p>But I didn&#39;t. That&#39;s my mistake.</p> </blockquote><blockquote> <p>The last time I exercised was probably 12 years old, I&#39;m 27 in a few weeks and my body is like that of a 55-year-old man.</p> <p>I can&#39;t stand up straight, my knees are killing me, my heart rate increases to around 140 BPM if I so much as even walk more than 100 feet, I can&#39;t lift anything more than 25ish pounds, if I sit down I need someone to help get me off the ground, if I sit in a chair I need to take about 3 seconds to &quot;lift-off&quot; the chair.</p> <p>But like OP said, &quot;until now&quot;</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><blockquote> <p>I have been walking .25 miles every single day, pushing myself harder and harder, for the past 6 days. My goal is to just be able to walk 10 miles. My ultimate goal is to straighten up my back, be able to run 5k, and get rid of all this fat on my body. Already got my binge eating halfway under control. One step at a time.</p> <p>edit:</p> <p>Thank you all so much, going through all the comments the best I can. Ya&#39;ll rock!</p> </blockquote><h2>15. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/elgherkin/">elgherkin</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>Listened to music way too loud and now I have tinnitus forever. Still hate myself for that one...</p> </blockquote><h2>16. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/1blackcoffee/">1blackcoffee</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>Never learned to do anything that I wasn&rsquo;t forced to do. So I lack the discipline to do things I want to do and don&rsquo;t have the social skills required to meet people because it wasn&rsquo;t something I had to do. I guess it&rsquo;s a simple fix but it&rsquo;s not easy.</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>17. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Dev_super73/">Dev_super73</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>Joining the f**king Army. 14 days to freedom!</p> </blockquote><h2>18. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/TridentLayersTop5Gum/">TridentLayersTop5Gum</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>Tried to fit in too much, it made me realize I had the wrong group surrounding me. After HS, I cut everyone off, don&rsquo;t have many friends now but I&rsquo;d rather wait to make friends that I know I&rsquo;m able to connect with as me, not as someone I&rsquo;m trying to be.</p> </blockquote><h2>19. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/kettle-fan/">kettle-fan</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>At 17, I had &ldquo;it doesn&rsquo;t suck itself&rdquo; tattooed right above my penis :(</p> </blockquote><h2>20. From <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/myhigherself/">myhigherself</a>:</h2><blockquote> <p>Not brushing my teeth and giving up on taking care of myself. Now I have full dentures.</p> <p>Edit: for anyone interested: I&rsquo;ll be 40 next week, I got them at 29, I have a number of interacting health factors - genetics, XXY/KS, ADHD, depression. For the most part I&rsquo;m glad I got them, but wish I&rsquo;d kept some retaining teeth because I need implant-secured dentures now. Here are some pictures of what I looked like pre-dental work, after caps in the front, and 11 years into having dentures (today). <a commentid="t1_h73lsgt" href="https://imgur.com/a/RL2EFAa" post="[object Object]" rel="noopener nofollow ugc" target="_blank">https://imgur.com/a/RL2EFAa</a></p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div>

20 people share the mistakes they made as teens that they’re still paying for.

Our teen years don&#39;t last forever, but the memories do. And, unfortunately, the after-effects of the worst teen decisions can last far longer than our youth.While most teen gaffes quickly fade away into the entertaining arsenal of stories, some permeate our psyche or physical circumstances far longer.In a popular Reddit thread, people shared the mistake they made as teen that is still affecting them to this day.1. From CrippleOverlord: Not wearing my seatbelt. At least my wheelchair is fast. Edit: Thank you kind strangers! I&#39;ll keep these awards buckled in with me! 2. From Megafiend: Started drinking to counter social anxiety. 3. From BlowBallSavant: Punching a wall. Hit the stud. The fracture in my hand didn&rsquo;t properly heal as well as losing the use of two of my tendons which makes opening my hand a nuisance. As you could imagine it was my dominant hand. My life isn&rsquo;t hell from it but boy If I could go back in time to my teenage years, that&rsquo;s when I&rsquo;d go.  Please please please!!!! If you ever feel like you need to hit something for whatever reason please hit something soft and not living, like a pillow. Your delicate hands will thank you down the road. 4. From jreindel1: Nicotine. Smoked a pack a day for almost 15 years, started when I was 16-17 Finally quit 100% about a year ago when my wife and I found out we were expecting.  I&#39;ve been really good, and haven&#39;t had a single smoke, but I&#39;m not gonna lie, at least once a day I think &quot;damn a cigarette would be good right now.&quot; 5. From justanobody123456: I said a lot of stupid sh*t with my actual name as the username on social media. Thankfully I have a common name but it will be in the back of my head for the rest of my life. 6. From Hazzmeister72: Gambling excessively, that s**t is dangerous man, just don&rsquo;t do it. 7. From Bob_N_Frapples: Sharing needles with other people (when I was 16). Spent the next 40 years with Hepatitis C and did two unsuccessful Interferon treatments that lasted a total of 22 months. Fortunately, got cured in 2015 with a 90-day treatment of Harvoni, but still, I spent a lot of time effort during some very important years trying to get well. 8. From dogandbutterfly1978: Dropping out of college to get married. Going back in my 30s with adult responsibilities and a full time job was the most chaotic time of my life. 9. From FourTV: Blindly accepting college loans assuming future me would be able to handle it. Future me is now present me and it&#39;s not very enjoyable. 10. From Glittering_Cup9438: Developing a drug habit. So much wasted time and money on short-lived experiences. Edit: WOW did not expect this when I came back today. My most upvoted post and it&rsquo;s on my alt account lol. Thanks guys and girls! For anyone wondering my drug of choice was cocaine. 11. From Dagusiu: Not asking my parents for help with finding things I really enjoyed doing. I think maybe if I&#39;d joined a chess club or something like that, I&#39;d actually have had a lot more fun and made some friends. I was really lonely for a long time and it wasn&#39;t easy to make up for the lack of social development during those important years. 12. From maddix30: Not going out with friends enough. I would often turn down invites out and now everyone is busy with their own lives and meeting can be hard sometimes. 13. From AlterEdward: It&#39;s not so much of an issue now, but it really bit me in the ass when I tried to make it on my own.  I was incredibly lazy and unambitious. I didn&#39;t have any job experience, any extracurricular activities, no hobbies, no clubs. I had nothing going for me. It&#39;s pretty hard to get hired based on nothing but your own assurance that you&#39;ll do a good job. 14. From Nexola: My mom was always too scared I&#39;d hurt myself during P.E class in school, so she always would write me notes to give to the gym teacher that I couldn&#39;t participate in class. Every single day... I wanted to tell my mom I wanted to not just participate in class, but that I also wanted to play sports. But I didn&#39;t. That&#39;s my mistake.  The last time I exercised was probably 12 years old, I&#39;m 27 in a few weeks and my body is like that of a 55-year-old man. I can&#39;t stand up straight, my knees are killing me, my heart rate increases to around 140 BPM if I so much as even walk more than 100 feet, I can&#39;t lift anything more than 25ish pounds, if I sit down I need someone to help get me off the ground, if I sit in a chair I need to take about 3 seconds to &quot;lift-off&quot; the chair. But like OP said, &quot;until now&quot;  I have been walking .25 miles every single day, pushing myself harder and harder, for the past 6 days. My goal is to just be able to walk 10 miles. My ultimate goal is to straighten up my back, be able to run 5k, and get rid of all this fat on my body. Already got my binge eating halfway under control. One step at a time. edit: Thank you all so much, going through all the comments the best I can. Ya&#39;ll rock! 15. From elgherkin: Listened to music way too loud and now I have tinnitus forever. Still hate myself for that one... 16. From 1blackcoffee: Never learned to do anything that I wasn&rsquo;t forced to do. So I lack the discipline to do things I want to do and don&rsquo;t have the social skills required to meet people because it wasn&rsquo;t something I had to do. I guess it&rsquo;s a simple fix but it&rsquo;s not easy. 17. From Dev_super73: Joining the f**king Army. 14 days to freedom! 18. From TridentLayersTop5Gum: Tried to fit in too much, it made me realize I had the wrong group surrounding me. After HS, I cut everyone off, don&rsquo;t have many friends now but I&rsquo;d rather wait to make friends that I know I&rsquo;m able to connect with as me, not as someone I&rsquo;m trying to be. 19. From kettle-fan: At 17, I had &ldquo;it doesn&rsquo;t suck itself&rdquo; tattooed right above my penis :( 20. From myhigherself: Not brushing my teeth and giving up on taking care of myself. Now I have full dentures. Edit: for anyone interested: I&rsquo;ll be 40 next week, I got them at 29, I have a number of interacting health factors - genetics, XXY/KS, ADHD, depression. For the most part I&rsquo;m glad I got them, but wish I&rsquo;d kept some retaining teeth because I need implant-secured dentures now. Here are some pictures of what I looked like pre-dental work, after caps in the front, and 11 years into having dentures (today). https://imgur.com/a/RL2EFAa 