Dora's Corner: Youth Is Wasted on the Young: Wishing I Knew Then What I Know Now!

I agree with the adage by the mighty George Bernard Shaw: "Youth is wasted on the young."

Lately, I have come to question many decisions I made in my life beginning from when I was in my 20s.  I made some terrible decisions, but still, the good ones outweighed the bad ones.  The biggest regret was not finishing college at Texas Tech.  Those were wonderful times, yet, they were often muddled with clouds of uncertainty and fear.  Those, my friends, were my obstacles, if you will.  I have had some really terrific jobs/careers which afforded me the ability to travel the U.S. and Canada.  It also afforded me the ability to see the country sometimes with loved ones in tow, who in turn, also got the opportunity to see several parts of our beautiful country.  The pay was always substantial (in abounds at times) and that is all I need to say about that.  My regret has little to nothing with how much money I have made; monetary issues are obsolete in this point I am trying to make; however, I do regret that I did not take up other opportunities that I had along the way through to the maturity level of today.  That sounded weird, but I am going with it.
If the youth of today (20s) had the ability to travel forward into time, the ability that unfortunately none of us has, then they would see how taking things for granted and not pouncing on certain opportunities would be something they would well regret.  Had I had a time machine (oh, Jules Verne: Où étiez-vous avec vos idées de science-fiction!  and Isaac Asimov, the same question: Where were you with your sci-fi ideas?).  
Sure, I am back on track after several years to complete a certain educational journey which long eluded me or rather I eluded it.  I am back in college for the umpteenth time, but this time things are extremely different, and with God's help (I'm really not that religious, but I acknowledge His existence), I will succeed this time around.  
One piece of advice to the younger crowd at MC, stay in college, get a degree and definitely allow the world to be your oyster.  Do NOT be stupidly stupid, arrogantly arrogant, and for certain, do NOT believe that you know more than anyone else.  I can assure you that you are not intelligent the minute you close yourself off to the idea of learning from others.