- I got pregnant at 19, one of the biggest literal "mistakes" that can happen, or I suppose "accidents" . I did not keep it and do not regret that decision in any way whatsoever.

- Mistake linked to the first, I stayed in the terrible relationship by which I became pregnant for another 6 months off-and-on and allowed that person to continue in my life for a full 2-3 years after that event, despite the fact that our interaction was terrible, enabling, co-dependent, and uneven in that "he lusted after me" sort of way

- I got a wedding ring tattoo after three months. No, I didn't get married. Yes, I still have the tattoo.

- I slept with a guy two days before his wedding. To someone else, of course.

- Mistake linked to the above one: I then stayed in contact with him.

- I have also done that whole "shit where you eat"(date/fuck someone you work with) thing. Advice: Don't. Or actually, do it once. Then you will learn why you don't ever want to do it again.

I don't ever plan on having kids. But if I did, instead of blanketly telling them things not to do, I'd want to be as open with them as possible about my experiences and why things didn't work out for me. Because I have an incredibly closed and incommunicative relationship with my mother I can see the damage that does when I, or the other kids, need help: the siblings talk to each other but no one ever turns to our parents for help. If I were a parent, I'd be more focused on making sure I felt my kids could talk to me than making sure they were always making "the right" decisions in life.

And in line with that, I would say that I view more of these as "learning experiences that have perhaps made my life stressful and uncomfortable at the time, but have made me into the person who I am today, who, while not perfect, is pretty damn fucking successful at what she does and so therefore these experiences have really only served to enrich me as I go through life" than "mistakes."

It's funny how I don't really count the classes I failed on this list, but then again, I could probably double it in size if I wanted to. When the past comes up around new people I usually tell them "I have lived a lot" and leave it at that.

Sigh. Damn it, Hubski, now you know me so much better.

Edit: Brave enough for you, nowaypablo ? ;)