If you had a second chance?

Having got the family I have I wouldn’t want to change anything but I always think I would have loved to have been an archaeologist or a genealogist...love living in the past.

What a wonderful and varied set of answers! And overall we mostly seem to be content with our lot.

It is interesting how circimstances change things. For me the first time was sitting in a plane as it bounced down a runway in a gale before grinding to a halt with a broken nose wheel; watching to sparks fly from under the belly of the plane made me realise that I needed to get on and make some choices. It wasn't a life flashng before me moment but was a you-only-get-one-go-at-life one! (But I did get to ride in a fire engine, the only vehicle available to take us away after we'd evacuated the plane!!)

Then, in 2001 Mr PP and I had our future swerved by 9/11 - we were about to emmigrate to Canada with his role in an aviation company and I was going to use my ski instructor's qualifications. But his company went from recruiting and relocating to making people redundant very quickly. That was when we hatched our plan to move to France.

It is interesting how many times arcaheology comes up - I might have stuck to it if I'd specialised in somewhere warmer than British prehistory and landscape archaeology 

Career to date florist, zoo keeper, chef, gardener, cleaner, running own business. Soon to add builder to my bow   .
I consider the change to go back and do things again or differently absolutely terrifying!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Once is more than enough for me! 
So Hell no!, never going to happen, not for me thanks!

Well would you look at that. I completely missed out 2 years of my life   . I’ve been a fish monger as well! 
that slots in between chef & gardener! 

still wouldn’t do any of it again. Not saying I don’t need to   .

Like you PP, I had a wake-up call. Mine was in 2007 - a strange medical thing that left me in hospital, unable to walk, wash myself, not even clean my teeth. I thought I'd be like it for the rest of my life. It took a while to learn to do it all again but I did, and here I am, grateful for every day I can walk to the end of the garden when I thought I'd never see it again.
I never take any day for granted now - it can be taken away from you so easily. Enjoy it while you can and don't waste time moaning and ranting - life really can be too short.

Having got the family I have I wouldn’t want to change anything but I always think I would have loved to have been an archaeologist or a genealogist...love living in the past.

You must love being on this forum then Jay, with all the old relics, just as well us younger ones are here to keep it moving forward

Spec, you're too old to be a relic - you're a fossil.

I don't think I would like to change anything now. When I was little (probably about 9 or 10) I wished I had been born a girl as, from what I could see at the time, they had a far easier life. They stayed at home and had all the fun while men had to go out to work and earn a living. There were tramps about then (not that long after the war really) and i always thought I could well end up like that as i had a very low opinion of my abilities. My best times were helping in my dads allotment and looking after our hens.

I went through school and worked quite hard mainly to put off the day I would have to start looking for a job. At 20 I had no idea what I wanted to do or could do. I had an interview at Shell, not for a specific job and they asked what job I would like to do. I was told there was not a specific job of mathematician. I ended up in Local Government for 18 years and then a biscuit company. Work, though, was always just a means of earning the money needed for our family.

Having got the family I have I wouldn’t want to change anything but I always think I would have loved to have been an archaeologist or a genealogist...love living in the past.

Same here really - love my boys and I absolutely loved bringing them up...I was so looking forward to the empty nest though  But I'm in the 3rd year being home without them and now I would love to go back to an art studio.

Do it, Scarlet! Set up your own Studio, make jewellery, enamels and all the other beautiful things you can do.

I might just do that VC....