They say you never forget your first time, but that's not really true of everything in life.
Like, I really enjoy pizza, but I've been eating it all my life. I don’t recall the first time. But I introduced my high school best friend to pizza when we were 14. He—now a certified pizzaholic—vividly remembers his first pizza experience.
Ditto for introducing him to coffee. I know... I'm a bad influence.
It's really things that are out of your norm that you remember your first experience with. And some of those will be unpleasant memories, like a first broken bone or surgery or heartbreak.
But some first experiences are so amazing, exciting, or world-shifting that you'll always remember them and maybe even wish you could experience that same feeling again.
Or so disappointing that you might want a do-over.
Reddit user BOOKGIRLIE13 asked:
"What is something you would love to do for the first time again?"
Popping Up
"Holding a wheelie on a motorcycle. The feeling was insane."
"Fortunately, I got wiser as I got older and knew my days were limited riding like that. Haven’t been on a bike in over 5 years."
"As a father, I’m okay with that. But God, those were fun, crazy days."
~ BerniesCatheter
Take This Job And...
"Choosing my career."
"I was a dumba** when I committed that crime against my life."
"I want a second chance."
~ dora_not_theexplorer
Unplugged Childhood
"Relive the days where social media didn't exist where we would ride bikes and hope our friends would pick up the phone."
"Sit back in the summer and just hang out till the streetlights came on."
"The days where moments were captured in our minds rather on video."
~ Smart-Cash2525
"Oh, God. Can you remember playing like a child?"
"There didn't even have to be a plan. Play was just invented on the spot."
"How did we lose that? Where does it go?"
~ halfcow
Kindness Of Strangers
"I spent my childhood in a wheelchair because of a little-known disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa. My dad took me to an all-star high school girls' basketball game."
"He left to go grab us concession foods before the game. So I'm sitting there watching these high school girls warm up."
"All of a sudden, they all walked over to me (I was a shy kid). They wheel me out to the floor and lift me up so I could take a shot..."
"To this day I think about how a random group of people showed a tremendous amount of kindness to a complete stranger."
"I'd like to experience that pure kindness again. I was happy for a month after that."
~ raixon
No Distractions
"My first rollercoaster, but without pigging out on amusement park food first."
"Instead of the pure dread of trying to keep my lunch down, I could just experience the exhilaration of riding a rollercoaster."
~ Lost_Gothh143
Regrets, She Has A Few
"Go back to my 18th birthday and meet Tim for the first time. Now I know humility, compassion, and that I certainly was NOT the coolest chick ever."
"He was so lovely in every way… smart, handsome, a little shy and quiet, my family loved him, imaginative, creative."
"He is now a chemist on the West Coast and in a happy 38-year marriage with two beautiful kids."
"And I’m… a better person than before, but oh God, I needed to grow the f*ck up. I messed that up royally."
~ Few_Carrot_3971
Adoption Day
"Meet my dog. Happy middle-aged doggie rushing me and tangling in between my legs wagging his tail while his shelter handler tries to control him."
"Not a day goes by when I don't miss him."
~ Elddif_Dog
Freedom
"I want to feel the mania of being the king of the world again that I had when I landed my first job, suddenly didn't have to count my dimes at the end of the month, had a nice place to live, a car that I could drive to everywhere and physical health like a roman god."
"Those times when I was in a pinch and traveled to Sweden and chilled in a national park for 2 weeks, or drove across the country on my vacation just for fun."
"This was the magical time of my early 20s, being at the pinnacle of health, making your first real money that isn't a summer job, yet still too young to worry about the future."
~ derbre5911
It's Outta Here
"I’d say specifically my first walk-off home run. It was also in a big game in high school.
I never got to hit a walk-off bomb in college. However, it was in the high school provincial finals (Canadian version of state).
"Going from being so nervous to feeling like a superhero made my knees weak."
"Like, 'holy sh*t, did I just do that‽‽'."
~ PresentationTop6097
* In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. It must be hit in the bottom of the final inning and generate enough runs to exceed the opponent's score.
Because the opponent will not have an opportunity to score any more runs, there is no need to finish the inning and the team on defense can 'walk off' the field while the player who hit the home run is still rounding the bases.
Popular Kid v. The Outcast
"High school, best time of life!"
~ Outrageous_Card_5172
"High school…because it was the worst time of my life."
"I’d like a do-over."
~ akumakis
Seeing Is Believing
"My first pair of glasses. It was like I unlocked new superpowers."
~ theeivywren
"This brought back a nice memory. I picked up my first pair of prescription glasses near the restaurant I worked at when I was 15."
"Had a 4 mile walk home wearing them for the first time and couldn’t stop looking at the trees because I could see every leaf."
"Trees were no longer undefined green blobs of various shapes."
~ C0ldSh0t
Wait For Someone Worthy
"Without a doubt, my first sexual experience."
"I don't understand why we give the opportunity to someone who today has no meaning in your life and even disgusts you."
~ Avrilxoxoo
Daddy Daughter Day
"Getting to walk my daughter down the aisle was very special."
"It was only a few years ago, but it was a phenomenal experience."
~ That_Plastic8133
Wanted: A New Ending
"The love and infatuation I had for a girl during my late high school years was unmatched. That year and a half was the best time of my life."
"I’ll never forget that Christmas or those moments on my parents' porch, her on my lap in a rocking chair, chain-smoking cigarettes, with the spring breeze reflecting off of her onto me. I’ve never felt such an overwhelming urge to kiss someone as I did with her-she was my first everything."
"To this day, certain songs still bring her to mind. And honestly, if I had the chance to relive that time, I’d do anything to experience it again."
"Just so I could tell her to f*ck off. Finding out she cheated on me ruined a big chunk of my early twenties."
~ Impressive-Error-933
A Many Splendored Thing
"Fall in love. It went against everything I'd prepared myself for emotionally, yet it felt completely out of my control."
"The level of vulnerability was terrifying and exhilarating. Nothing like it!"
"I'm a reserved and stoic person and unfortunately a bit more closed off to finding love than I once was, but I still love romance and remember those first feelings."
~ american-kestrel
What first time experience would you want to have again?
