There are a lot of things that I never had when I was younger, and growing up. Things that my friends and peers had, and that I always longed to have as well. I'm not talking about material things, but the "intangible" gifts that life distributes randomly to different people. (I'm not going to be more specific with examples, because that gets too personal for this forum.) For many of those things, not having them was due, in large part, to my lifestyle then --- my life when when I was living at home, dictated -- and restricted -- as it was by my parents.
I have a lot of those things now. And because I never had them before, I appreciate them all the more. In the years since I left home, I've often, on many different occasions, stopped short and wondered/marvelled at the hidden (to me, at the time) wisdom my parents displayed, maybe conciously, maybe unconciously, in bringing me up. In retrospect, would I have had my life unfold any other way? I don't think so.
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I wonder if everyone feels, to an extent, when they're growing up that other people's lives are better? I had a very unique childhood, some of which I'm grateful for and some of which I will do very differently if I ever have kids. It would be interesting to see if your examples and mine are similar.
But yes, of course, there are some things that I would want to do differently. My point, though, was that those things are quite few, compared to the things I'd want to do the same way.
Good point. However, I was referring specifically to our perspectives when we're children growing up. Our perspectives tend to be much narrower then, and focused on what we have or get to do vs. what our friends have or get to do. At least, it was that way for me and my friends when we were growing up. Now, we're much more balanced. :D
Ah. Yes. :) You think, maybe, that that's simply because now we see and understand the eventual consequences of the things we had / didn't have? One of my resolutions is, when I have my own children and have to disappoint them, to at least try and explain to them why I'm doing what I'm doing. Show them the `big picture'. I'm not sure if they'd be mature enough at that age to really understand those concepts, but I'd like to try.
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