Nothing. I wouldn't change a thing. My life wasn't perfect. I was abused most of my childhood. I've been isolated from groups most of my life. However, I overcame a lot. I got to do a lot, despite life trying to beat me down. I overcame my abusive mother and elevated past my negligent father. I escaped that shitty small town that my family tried to trap me in. I ended up experiencing things that my bullies never did get to experience. I got to experience things that I don't think I was supposed to have experienced. I willed a lot of things into being for myself, for better or worse. I felt what it was like to fall in love. I felt what it was like to make a ton of money. I felt what it was like to be VIP somewhere. I've traveled and seen a lot of the world. I've pulled myself from dark places many times. I've experienced amazing sex with beautiful women. I eaten delicious, exotic foods in many countries.
I experienced a lot of cool things born out of a curiosity for life that was shaped by an abusive childhood where my only escape from it was my imagination. As painful as my youth was, it helped to shape my desire to flee and jump into life with both feet. It made me fearless in many ways. It made me greet life with a zest and love that I thought would be matched by life. Sure, I would've loved to have a loving family. I would've loved to be accepted by my peers, and to have met and married a girl I loved in high school. However, those things weren't possible, given the circumstances life put me in. To sit and imagine what could've been only serves to invalidate my struggles and triumphs that I had in this life.
I'm leaving this life with few regrets. Yeah, I wish I would've really pursued art as a real career instead of listening to people who had never done what I was trying to do. I wish I could've had a simpler life. A job that paid me enough to own land and a house, take care of a beautiful wife and children, and do the things I want to do. However, no matter how good my personal life would've been, this world would've still arrived at this moment in time we're in now. Donald Trump would still have been elected. Climate crises would still be happening and ignored. The coming wars and collapses would still be happening. I'd just have more of a stake in this life, and more to lose when it all falls apart. So, sitting here fantasizing just makes me sad, because it makes me feel like I didn't do enough. And that's not true.
I did the best I could, given how far my development, support, and resources had brought me. I don't think I could've played my hand much better than I already did. So, I wouldn't change anything. In the end, I made a lot of chicken salad out of chicken shit. And I'm damned proud of myself for that. I leave this earth in peace, knowing I gave this shit my all.