If you were to ask any person what they wish for most in this life, the majority would probably say a good, happy life. But what does that entail, actually? According to the experts at VeryWell, a few things: healthy relationships, getting enough sleep, and being physically active.

Then there’s also getting rid of stressors that drain our energy, finding meaning in the work that we do, and dedicating time to something we love outside of work. Sound like a lot? Probably because we’re more used to engaging in bad habits.

Recently, one person online asked others to share their past bad habits that made their life now so bad that they wish they had never done them. We’ve collected the best answers and present them to you here, Pandas. So, scroll down and cheer for the people who were able to kick their bad habits and check whether you’re engaging in some of them right now!

#1

GET INTO DEBT!!!

Image credits: ImpactSmooth299

#2

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

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

Image credits: lilybrixton

#3

Neglect my body for years.
Almost no movement. Rather poor hygiene. Horrible food.
And little to no sleep.

DiecastKiwi:
Start walking everyday and keep adding ten minutes to make it a solid hour, stop eating processed and packaged food you will bounce back.

Sad_Fee_4104:
That’s basically how I started.
Even 11 minutes stairwalking caused anywhere from mild to “tears down my face in pain” headaches
Slow steady walks. A year. Until a general practicioner gave me the greenlight to start hitting the gym.
Another year of painstakingly slow progress later: Only regular headaches which I can almost always wave away with a big fat smile.

Image credits: Sad_Fee_4104

#4

Spent years to impress the girl I like, I should have given that attention to my own self instead to improve my life.

MrLanesLament:
I fortunately got this impulse out of my system before I left school.
I completely fell for someone who had zero interest in me. To this day, I can’t figure out why I kept trying. Kept trying to be a guy she’d like; to be into the same interests she was; kept trying to invite her to stuff she probably had no interest in.
It. Was. Dumb.
If someone doesn’t like you immediately, put even an ounce of further effort in at your own peril. 99% of the time, you are wasting your time; not only that, but there’s also a good chance it will have the opposite effect and repel them.
I’ve had numerous good relationships since then; in each case, the person expressed interest in me very quickly. There’s no other way for it to happen IMO.

Image credits: OkAccess6128

#5

This will sound glib but I’m going to say it:

Moving to a city in Texas.

A better way of saying it “no matter the promotion or the amount of money: Never move somewhere where the general and sum total ideological or political belief system does not align in any way with your own. .

Image credits: Ready-Issue190

#6

Social media. It has seriously messed with my attention span. And I can’t even remember how to enjoy free time without checking it every five minutes.

Image credits: NeonPinkBag

#7

Slept less to keep up w school and work. At one point i was sleeping around 3 hrs a night, and falling alseep at the wheel regularly. Its been 10 years and i still have problems from this period of sleep deprevation.

Kids, dont sacrifice your sleep. Turns out you need it.

Image credits: Genderneutralbro

#8

Trying to impress people who don’t GAF about you.

figgynewton1:
Amen. I feel like this is a lesson that one will learn over and over again. I find myself doing this in different settings, with a different crowd, in a different mindset. Always in a cycle of learning and relearning.

Image credits: Brave_Calendar_941

#9

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.

Image credits: AvailableBreeze_3750

#10

Worked 12 hour days for a job that wasn’t worth it.

Image credits: sylphdreamer

#11

Isolated myself for years. I’m not sure it could really have been otherwise with the issues I had but, it annihilated my social circle.

Image credits: NuclearSoil

#12

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.

Image credits: ashoka_akira

#13

Going to prison at 19 for selling w**d.

In the end it worked out, I’ve since graduated college and have a nice engineering job and great life. It was a rough patch in my life for sure.

Freezing stuck in a prison cell in Joliet for 77 days, went weeks without showers or seeing sunlight. Then shipped off to bootcamp for 4.5 months to be further denigrated. In the end it caused me to grow up and prioritize what I want in life. Worked and paid my way through a 2 year community college, followed with a MIS degree at a 4 yr University.

Life hasn’t been perfect, but I always have perspective on a “bad day” in that I’ve had it much worse.

Image credits: leprechanmonkie

#14

Smoked.

PathOfTheAncients:

They say after 10 years of not smoking your odds of health problems return to near normal.

I am 10 years out as of this month. Started running the day I quit. At first I couldn’t go the length of a city block without having to stop and walk. Now I run hundreds of miles every year and every time I am tempted by a cigarette I just think about how much it would ruin my running.

If anyone reading this is trying to quit, keep trying. It took me a bunch of attempts before I was able to get there.

Image credits: Verlin_Wayne

#15

Bulimia for 15 years since I was a teen. All because my mom put me through weight watchers as a kid because I was a little chubby. Never felt thin enough.

Ruined my teeth and digestive health. 10/10 do not recommend.

Dry-Blueberry-8226:
I’m so sorry 😞
Body image issues can be so devastating…and they linger, boy do they linger.
Best medicine for me (not bulimic but suffered from severe dysmorphia for many years as a young man) was to find something physical that I was remotely good at and become better. Now, between how I eat and what I do with my body, I know objectively I look damn good (lol), but still have trouble eating out with freinds…
Hang in there.

Image credits: ghostbustrnutclustr

#16

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.

Image credits: Snowfall1201

#17

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

Image credits: Funkyp0tat0chip

#18

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.

Image credits: bendystrawboy

#19

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

Image credits: justablueballoon

#20

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. 🥴.

Image credits: Impressive-Dog-408

#21

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.

Image credits: SororitySue

#22

Succumbed to my food a*******n……again.

After 2 years of extreme dieting and exercise, I lost a lot of weight and went down to the absolute best shape of my life and felt very good about myself. Once I got down to an ideal weight, I didn’t know what to do with myself anymore. I didn’t know how to maintain it.

I started eating horribly again and am now, just over a year later, at the heaviest point in my entire life. I binge eat to the extreme and I’m pretty powerless to stop it. It affects pretty much every aspect of my life to some degree and it’s a very depressing feeling.

Image credits: NocturnaPhelps

#23

Care about what EVERYONE thinks of me.

#24

Purchased a rental property that was a money pit. Wish we had never done it. Our retirement has been delayed due to costs. Life’s lessons..

Image credits: LuckyApriCAT

#25

Dwelling on the past.

Image credits: Ball2daW-all

#26

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

Image credits: Ok-Butterfly6862

#27

Working at an animal shelter.

psychochihuahualover:

As a former animal shelter worker, 100% agree. It broke me.

#28

Getting fat. As someone with ADHD who already struggled to feel comfortable sitting, having extra weight on my legs made it even harder to sit. I’ve lost 55lbs so far, more to go, but I feel so much more comfortable now. I also have far less nerve pain, it’s easier to exercise (which helps reduce pain), and sleep better. You never realize just how much being overweight decreases your quality of life.

Image credits: Cannanda

#29

Fall for the romanticized idea of overworking, overachieving and ignoring my health related red flags as a sign of virtue and strength. I felt so proud about not getting enough sleep or food, not letting illnesses stop me and working my a*s off. At the end I never got actually recognized for any of it and completely blew my health at only 24, now I can’t do half of what I could do before and lost so much time of my prime years trying too hard instead of being a happier person.

Image credits: peeledpotatoesss

#30

Took a promotion. I was working in a job that I really enjoyed, but was offered a promotion that switched departments into an area I’ve never worked before. I didn’t really need the extra money, but thought it unwise to turn it down, and the company really needed help in the new role.

I sucked at the job and hated it. Quit the company after about a year because they had hired someone to fill my old role already and I had nothing else I could do with them. Now I’m doing multiple jobs that I hate and feel totally trapped.

Image credits: ConstantlyJon

#31

Went nomadic as a full-time RVer. It was easy to sell off everything and drive away but when the RV got totalled, I found myself homeless and it took years to get back to a normal way of life with my meager funds.

#32

Moved to a new province (state) thinking I needed a fresh start but in reality I was just running from my problems!

Image credits: Smooth_Raspberry_007

#33

Trusting in wrong “friends”

But then again, we learn by mistakes.

Image credits: Time_Job_8836

#34

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.

#35

Not wearing ear plugs at concerts.

#36

Being understanding when someone treats/talks/screams at you like s**t. Dont stand for it.

#37

Married young,at 18,now 61 divorced,wish i would have planned my life better for my future first before i got married,i just didnt want to be alone.

#38

Join the Military. (Seriously, dont join.).

#39

Allowed myself to be messy at times. A messy workspace (or living space) really affects everything.

#40

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.

#41

Kids. But I do love them to no end.

#42

Moving to Manhattan in my 20s. Almost 50% of my income went to rent out a horrible shoebox studio apartment with out any natural light. I couldn’t afford to go out and enjoy being young, let alone save for a downpayment on a house. And that’s not even getting into what it did to my mental health. At least I got out of there in my 30s.

#43

Cosmetic eyelid surgery. Can’t close my eyes all the way.

#44

Aggressively unlearned all my dad had taught me about fixing cars and machines. He was a complete nightmare to work with but I missed out on a chance for an imperfect but real bonding activity with him and now I need to call a service station if the cup holder is rattling.

#45

Bad dental hygiene in my late teens/early twenties. oh boy am i paying for it (literally and figuratively) now.

#46

Didn’t eat breakfast for all of high school. I thought I needed to lose weight (because of course I did, I was a teenage girl in the early 2000s) so I just skipped it and smoked cigarettes to stave off hunger pangs. I eat breakfast now and I quit smoking 6 years ago (to the day, actually!), but my metabolism is f****d and moderate cardio leaves me huffing and puffing like I just summited Everest. Eat breakfast and don’t smoke, kids.

#47

Bought an HOA-governed condo in Florida.

#48

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

#49

Thinking that romantic love is more important than anything else and that I need a man to be complete.

#50

Spent 30 years not walking much and mainly door to door by car…… now I am lucky to be able to manage 30 steps without agonising leg and back pain.

#51

Getting out of the Air Force. It was the worst decision I made in my life. I’ve struggled financially ever since. I make over 120k a year and live paycheck to paycheck in CA. I had to deal with the post 9/11 economy. I was an aircraft mechanic, the industry was in shambles when I got out. I was a young father struggling to make it. I lived through the economy collapse of 08 and the housing market crash. I’ve never earned more money in my life but still living paycheck to paycheck. I can’t even make it to the next pay period without overdrafting or having to pull money out of my savings. Just this last Friday I went to my brother in law’s retirement from the Air Force… we joined at the same time he was in boot camp with me. Now he has a retirement, will probably get disability from them, has a GI Bill for school. Plus now he can get a civilian job for extra income. He owns a house multiple cars has traveled the world. Meanwhile I’ve barely left the state of California. So….yeah worst decision of my life. I regret it everyday.

#52

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. .

#53

Living with a bf who rages.

#54

Drinking wine every night.

#55

Over eating.

#56

Staying in an unhealthy relationship.

Not prioritizing moving out of my a*****e parent’s house.

Taking advice from people who had never faced the issues I was having, or have any professional experience handling it.

Taking on student loans.

#57

Broad spectrum procrastination.

#58

Tried to show off, ended up destroying the lowest 5 vertebrae in my back and now I’m nearly crippled.

I picked up a very heavy object that I had no business picking up and, since there were people around, I didn’t immediately put the damned thing down. My lumbar region went cold and then numb. At that point I knew I screwed up. The pain began the next day.

I damaged multiple vertebra. Caused the discs to basically, squirt out the sides. Once that happened the nerves going out of my foramen became crushed by the bones.

One failed surgery later I get to have constant pain, weakness, and instability that prevents me from doing a great many things that I once loved.

I tell younger people that if you want to screw up your quality of life, damage your back. because once its damaged, its damaged for life.

#59

Radiation treatment for cancer!!! NEVER A-GAIN!! “Possibly” saved me from metastatic disease, and I mean possibly. The side effects are totally made light of……”Ohhhh XYZ only happens to 3% of the people” blah, blah, blah. I am permanently shrink-wrapped in my body like being wrapped in a blood pressure cuff I can’t take off. I am at risk for future cancers from the radiation(!?!?) including more breast cancer, skin cancer, lung cancer, and thyroid cancer. My lung is scarred, and I wheeze. Everything in the rads zone has shrunk…muscle and tissue. I deal with untreatable pains that range from aching, stinging, burning, pinching, electrical zaps, and internal itching (yes, internal). And I already look like a walking Picasso painting from the disfigurement, but I can still possibly get lymphedema at any time down the road from my lymph nodes being radiated. My shoulder and range of motion is f-ed too. All cancer treatments SUCK. They ALL have major life altering risks and frankly it’s like, die now, die later, still dying. Am I bitter? Ab-so-effing-lutely!!! What’s the point of it all if your quality of life is s**t?

#60

Speaking for my brother, he did acid once and developed schizophrenia.  Just had a mental breakdown from it and never recovered.

Was not worth it, imo.

#61

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.

#62

Had heart surgery. The complications have disabled me. I wasn’t disabled before the surgery. I would have rather have lived a possibly shorter life than to have been severely disabled.

#63

Ever stopped regularly working out for any length of time.

#64

Being a waitress for 20 years. It’s extremely hard on your body. But also what you can do afterwards. I have 2 kids now, and I’m lucky to have a husband who can provide, but if I had to go back to work to support us our life would not be the same. The hours, the money, the mentally taxing management/coworkers/customers. It’s just not a healthy environment guilt tripping and pettiness going on. So that

I have my weekends and holidays back. I did my time!

#65

Got married for religious reasons at a young age.

#66

I moved into my bfs family house.
His mum hates me for no reason, and she takes every chance she gets to put me down and damage/throw away my stuff.
I’ve never felt so much stress in my life.

#67

I know this could upset people but it really is my experience – going to therapy, it has been horrific. If you have an a*****e therapist prepare for hell, just leave.

#68

Had s*x just to get virginity out of the way. Ended up getting her pregnant and she was and still is a bi-polar, narcissist, emotionally a*****e person. Yes, you can get someone pregnant on the first time.

Honorable mention to marrying the first reasonable girl who loved me. I had looked for decades and had done so much to fix myself that I was just exhausted from it all and married the first “good enough” instead of waiting for someone that was great.

#69

Graduating college. I pissed away the best years of my life working a full time job and going to school only to get a degree that is borderline useless. Computer science should not be a 4 year degree, it should be a trade skill. All of my classmates ended up working at the same place after college due to the housing market disaster in 07. I had to take a $10,000 a year pay decrease to start my career. I was making far more doing the job that I worked to put myself through school.

I’m doing pretty well now, but it is doing something I could have learned in a year on the job. F**k the lies and b******t. Public schools need to stop indoctrinating kids into believing the college is a good idea before the kids even know what the f**k they want to do with their lives. It is state sponsored debt slavery.

#70

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.

#71

Had the Implanon contraceptive implant. Once I had it removed that’s when my issues started.
I now have Hidradenitis Suppurativa. It’s very debilitating and life changing (not in a good way). I’ve had this now for 20+ years. No cure and I can’t find the right balance of treatment that suits my body. Currently waiting for surgery to try and improve it.
Impacts every aspect of my life.

#72

Didn’t stretch before splitting and stacking wood and threw my back out really bad when I was 28. 20 years later and it has caused all kinds of problems and been in constant pain.

#73

Avoided therapy for years. I suffer from chronic depression, have wasted so much of my life letting it drain me.

#74

I was one the unfortunate to suffer serious side effects of my second covid vaccine. I was not, nor became, anti-vax but I really, really wish I hadn’t gotten it. I developed chronical pain and thyroiditis, it went untreated (docs blaiming anxiety) for long enough for me to develop permanent heart issues. I went from an active, athletic person to near bed-bound. Now I’m overweight and hypothyroid asthmatic with chronic pain and arrhytmias. Things have slowly gotten better and this year (the thyroiditis was in 2021) I went for my first run/jog in 4 years 🎉🎉🎉.

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