For me, it was learning English. Although I do make a few mistakes here and there, I’m mostly perfect on it.
The amount of resources you have access to dramatically increases when you know a universal language. I say dramatically because it made me realize how much my native language lacks when it comes to certain topics. The most obvious one to me was tech and computers. Everybody knows how to use Windows but there are very few resources about stuff beyond Windows. It’s actually sad. [insert sad face here]
Probably having kids. Got pregnant at 23, went back to school, slowly, got a much better job when I finished. Do not think I would have done without having the kids, and they have brought so much joy into my life.
But I always knew I wanted kids so not sure that counts.
Wearing a very slightly alternative outfit to the mall in the 1980s may actually have saved my life. I was so alienated at school, for a lot of reasons, and falling in with these slightly older punks who looked after me at shows and just generally got me into that scene really made me feel I had a place - I wouldn’t say it was wholesome by any stretch but without that group I am pretty sure I would have just died, probably from anorexia as a teen. Good and bad came from it but I am very, very happy for that day.