The long answer, because I always have a long answer, has to do with experiences. We all have good and bad experiences. We all have things that we wish had never happened, and we all have things that we wish hadn’t ended. All of those experiences make us who we are. The sum total of our experiences make us more than the parts seem to account for individually. Put another way, we are more than each experience. We are greater for having had each experience, good or bad.
So as I answered my student, as truthfully as I could, I said no, I wouldn’t change things. Are there other paths that I wish I had explored? Yes. But had I explored those paths, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I have the best wife a person could ask for and a phenomenal son. If I went back and changed any of my choices, or my experiences, I wouldn’t likely arrive at the same point that I am at today.
I have to remind myself of that sometimes. I usually need the reminder when I am playing the “What if?” game. What if I hadn’t been stupid with money? What if I hadn’t eaten all that junk food when I was young? What if I hadn’t been an outcast? Change any of the variables and I would change where I am now. So I guess the root of the question, would you go back and change anything? is really asking are you happy now? The answer to that one is easy for me: Yes.