Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Guest Post – #Life – I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now! by Carol Taylor

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I am sure like me, there have been times when you have wondered what difference might have been made to your life, if your younger self had been gifted with the experience and knowledge you have accumulated over the years.

I invited several friends from the writing community to share their thoughts on this subject which I am sure you will enjoy as much as I did.

I wish I knew then what I know now! by Carol Taylor

When Sally invited me to partake in this prompt, I racked my brain for days and just couldn’t think what to write… but how could I get to my age and not “Wish I knew then what I know now”

We have all had those moments when we wish we had the knowledge and insight we possess now a few weeks, months or years ago…

Would I have remained footloose and fancy free…I guess not…

I was a 50’s child and my father thought all girls got married and raised a family…my mother did just that and when I wrote copious pages for homework and got A grades she said” very nice dear” …my sisters played with dolls…

I should have… could have followed my dream to be a journalist…I didn’t…but the truth is there has been ups and downs over the years but all of that has made me what I am now… I am happy with that…

I came to blogging and writing late in life and a part of me wishes I had applied myself to that sooner…although I always loved English in school both language and literature and passed my exams with good grades, I do wish now I had taken that further it would make my life so much easier now when writing…

This writing game is not easy at times I seem to go around in circles and see everyone around me doing so well …

My second biggest regret is that I am passionate about the environment and I wasn’t passionate enough when I was younger and I wish I had been and had achieved far more in that world…made my voice heard…really heard…

I wish I had taken environmental studies… Would I have been a real activist…probably not as I believe in talking but not the extreme actions, I see playing out now …I think that alienates people who sit in the middle and could or would have taken more action in their own homes and may have supported a cause if their lives weren’t disrupted by someone glueing themselves to the motorway and prevented them from getting from A to B…

Or I wish I could have been a scientist…I love research and to be able to realise my dream and be able to spend the time researching and writing up that research…testing it out and if successful I can but imagine the buzz… but also know that a scientist observes and asks questions relating to the subject of the research, measures and communicates the idea and then makes a prediction now comes the really exciting part… to test and record each and every step systematically so it can be re-created.

Testing ideas, not all of which work, but what a buzz when it does…to a point I do this with my recipes as I have learnt the hard way if I tweak a recipe, I write it down…I learnt that lesson when watching a programme, a while ago where chefs wrote out a recipe and then gave it to another chef to cook it…

The commentary and the results were so different from the original recipe…basically the chef’s testing the recipe didn’t have a clue what the writer meant and they were chefs…

These chefs were watching the other chefs create their recipe and soon realised that what they had written wasn’t sufficient for another to understand the process…

It made me realise that although I know what I am doing the person reading my recipe has also to know and I have to make it super clear…so barring oven temps and all ovens are different it should turn out the same…

The conclusion is maybe I am a scientist of sorts…

I’ll leave you with this song…by one of my favourite singers…in this track Rod sings about “I wish I knew then what I know now” Rod Stewart

I wish I had taken more risks when I was my younger self…I wish I knew that I was smart…

You can’t however go back and would I have listened to anyone when I was younger …the young don’t …

©Carol Taylor 2022

My thanks to Carol for sharing her thoughts on the prompt, and having been lucky enough to enjoy Carol’s amazing recipes she shares here on the food column and her green kitchen, I can say without a doubt she is an alchemist…I know she would love to hear from you.

About Carol Taylor

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetables ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use have to improve our health and wellbeing.

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: Amazon US

Connect to Carol – Blog: Carol Cooks 2 – Twitter: @CarolCooksTwo – Facebook: Carol Taylor

Thank you for dropping in today and it would be great if you could share Carol’s post… thanks Sally

97 thoughts on “Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Guest Post – #Life – I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now! by Carol Taylor”

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  3. I think you’re right, Carol. Science and experiments come in all sizes and shapes, and you are helping many people to look after themselves and their environment. Take care!

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  6. After reading this, Carol, I guess I was blessed. My father and my mother both pushed me to get good grades and encouraged me, although I was a self-starter. Probably because they were both college graduates – my poor brother was not a student and I know they both agonized over him. Funny, he turned out OK, got into my father’s field and challenged him!
    Nice piece, good thoughts for all your readers!

    Liked by 3 people

  7. Guess this “What if…” applies to us all sometimes,Carol. And thanks so much for the reminder of this song!! I used to sing this on my way home having transferred to one particular department I absolutely hated in the Civil Service – all for the sake of promotion!

    Liked by 2 people

  9. Hi Carol, Rod Steward is my mum’s favourite singer. I imagine it is very difficult to overcome general bias against female education and work opportunities when they are embraced by the community at large. My mother’s father didn’t believe in educating girls at all and he packed them off to work asap. My father, on the other hand, has always been very supportive of everything I’ve attempted to do in my life from a work and writing perspective. I dedicated my most recent Sir Choc book to him.

    Liked by 3 people

  10. A lovely post, Carol. I am a firm believer that most of us are right where we are meant to be, and I can see in you the manifestation of the things you thought about long ago—a scientist in the kitchen and a keen environmentalist with followers whose lives might be different if they hadn’t read some of your wonderful posts about the environment. I can say I am one of those people. Your environmental posts have helped me to become a more involved and active steward of our environment, and for that I thank you. xo

    Liked by 2 people

  12. Great to see Carol here. Someone once said you don’t know what you don’t know, which is so true when we are younger. I think she has taken risks. Moving half a world away is no small feat!

    Liked by 3 people

  13. That was a lovely post, Carol – so many of us were limited in those days by parental expectations. You seem to be doing a wonderful job with your passion now. Toni x

    Liked by 3 people

  14. Is there anyone who truly accomplishes what they want to in life? I think we’re all works in progress, Carol. Any day we learn something new is a great day. I’ll bet when you look at your children and grandchildren, you think, “I must have done something right.” I know you have inspired me through your blog.

    Liked by 4 people

  15. Loved this Carol. Oh the things we could have been if we had the confidence we gained through life experience. I too wanted to be a journalist since I was young, but no direction or anyone to guide me left me to figure out life myself by trial and error – kind of like ‘Imogen’ from Sally’s book. And you would have made an excellent environmentalist. You do a great job on your blog. ❤

    Liked by 3 people

  17. My parents were very supportive of us having a career and my sister became a doctor. I attempted a couple of careers that ended in disaster. I would still choose to be married and have children, but I wish I had realised that it is not the only way to have somewhere to live and some sort of status in society!

    Liked by 3 people

  18. A poignant post, Carol. And yes, you are a scientist of sorts. While there may be regrets, there are also triumphs and accomplishments! I celebrate those with you!

    Liked by 3 people

  22. I too wish I had followed my heart but as Carol tells us… those were the days when societal pressures guided our way. It is never too late to follow our dreams and Carol has done quite well. Lovely post!

    Liked by 3 people

  26. What a cool share about the chefs’ recipes and what a fine art it is to write so one is fully understood. I loved getting to know Carol better. She seems so accomplished to me! Our lives are just too short, I think, to fulfill all our dreams. So we must find joy in those we do. It seems to me that Carol has done that. Wonderful share, Carol. Thanks Sally. 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

  27. What a great addition to the series, Sally! I think we’ve all wondered, as Carol has, what other path our life may have taken had we made different choices. I love that she took us on her thought journey with her. 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

  28. Another thoughtful take on the writing prompt.
    Loved the Rod Stewart song at the end.
    It’s good to hear how everyone really thought a lot about the writing prompt.
    Well done Sally for starting the thread and all the great takes so far.

    Liked by 3 people

  29. Carol, I am sure you would have been great in any professional situation you would have chosen. In your blogs I recognized your passion and commitment for the environment and I agree with you fully. I am delighted to know that you are « happy » being who you are now. That, in itself, is a wonderful achievement. Thanks for sharing your insights with us. Hugs
    Reblogged on Improvisation – “The Art of Living”
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  30. I so recognise that ‘very nice dear’. I was teaching in the late 1970s and occasionally I’d do debates with my groups. The topic for one of them was ‘This house believes that when both husband and wife go out to work, the men should help out with the housework’. Every single group voted against the motion – including most of the girls. It was a woman’s role to don her pinny on returning to the house and cook and clean on top of a full day’s work.
    Your passion as an environmentalist shines through your blogs, Carol, and I’m sure you’ve achieved more now that you could have done then when people weren’t open to the notion. As for the sciences, it’s not surprising that they used to refer to cookery lessons as Domestic Science and your experiments in that field are very well received!
    Another fascinating take on Sally’s prompt – keep fighting, Carol! xx

    Liked by 3 people

  31. Aw, I am grateful for this opportunity to get to know you a little better, Carol! You may feel you didn’t take as many risks as you might have when you were younger, but perhaps had you done so, you might not be here today! ❤

    Liked by 4 people

  32. It’s so tough to be the odd one out at a young age. I always seemed to be the “reverse black sheep” of the family in that I wanted “something more than”. Even if I didn’t know what, or couldn’t afford to go to uni, I wanted off that council estate and out of a dead-end life. I remember thinking, so many times, it would be easier to just go along with everyone else. Thanks for sharing your story and wishes, Carol. Hugs 💕🙂

    Sally, thanks for sharing this wonderful post series. Hugs 💕🙂

    Liked by 4 people

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