WHAT I REGRET - Happy Console Gamer

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:08]What a beautiful [music] forest I found here, and I've never been here before, and it's huge. It's unbelievable. And I just want to show you guys that just for a split second here, I'll switch it onto this forest. Like, look at this.

[00:00:21]Wow, right?

[00:00:24]Just amazing. Just amazing. [music] And yeah, today I want to come here and um and talk about some of my regrets in life. And I've done some videos talking about some things like, oh, where I sold some video games that I regretted. But I just want to talk about some real real regrets that I've had as a person. And you can hear the birds out, man. You can tell it's spring and everything's come back to life and it is so gorgeous. I got to say, British Columbia is a wonderful, beautiful place. It really, really is. It really is. And I just walk around here at times, I'm just in awe, you know? And I I kind of like coming and doing these vlogs because it gives me such energy to be in such these kind of environments. It really does cuz they're just so beautiful. But, you know, I just wanted to talk about some regrets I have in life is that you know, some of the regrets I have is that I wish, you know, I'm 52 years old now.

[00:01:22]I wish I listened to my parents a little bit more when I was younger. I always thought that I knew a lot more than they did >> [laughter] >> did when I was in my teens. You know, when I look back now, I think I'm absolutely crazy. What a what a nuthead I was thinking that they they knew all the answers. They had been through all the things that I had been through. But I was like, no, my life is different.

[00:01:42]They have no idea. They have no idea.

[00:01:44]And um they gave me a lot of good advice, and I think one of the pieces of advice they gave me that I really wish I followed is that you know, that John, I know you're really into your friends, they would say, but you know, your friends aren't always going to be around. It's about it's about kind of you and the decisions you make in your life. It's not only about your friends because when you're younger it's all about your friends. It really is. You're like, your friends are your family. They're they are your world. In the whole friend thing, I I would listen to my friends' advice, which sometimes was terrible. Where I didn't realize that my parents had my best interest at heart. Where sometimes your friends sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. And that's the really interesting thing about that.

[00:02:27]And as you get older, you hang out with less and less people, and you kind of come to realize that your family was the closest and best thing that you had.

[00:02:36]Well, I know I know I know that's not right for everybody. I know everybody's from very different families, and sometimes it's not great, and I understand that. Um but I I was very lucky to have good parents and uh that that had my interest at heart. And I I wish I had I wish I had listened to some of their advice a little bit more. That would have been wonderful. I mean my life could have been a little bit easier than what it was. But you know what?

[00:02:59]We also have to make our own decisions, good, bad, and ugly, and let them let them play out if they're if they're going to work out or not. And you kind of learn from your mistakes, and I think that's what it is. Like, don't you hate that? I remember hating this saying when I was younger, and now I think it's the greatest thing ever. You can't put an old head on young shoulders.

[00:03:19]And oh my god, as I've gotten older it mean it it it makes so much sense.

[00:03:27]Uh there's another saying, you know I hope I can say this correctly. I think it was like a little little phrase thing saying, oh, when my father you know, when I when I was younger uh you know, like in my teens you know, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand it.

[00:03:43]And when I got into my 20s, I was surprised about how much he had learned.

[00:03:48]>> [laughter] >> And it's funny because it's that what that means is that the the teenager is the one who is wrong there.

[00:03:58]Uh and in the sense that they they're judging their parents so intensely.

[00:04:03]And they don't realize that when they get older that all of a sudden you reach an age and you're like, oh my my parents are just people. And wait a second, they they're my family. They created me. Oh my goodness, you know?

[00:04:15]And I'm not saying here for everybody out there who you know, has had you know, not good childhoods or not good you know, families to to to listen to this advice. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying but this is for me.

[00:04:25]This is for me to figure out. And you know, the one thing as well, you know that I regret, especially when I was younger, especially now that I'm older looking back of I wish I was more in the moment. I wish I'd lived you know you know, everybody's like, oh my god, what was it like to grow up in the 80s and 90s? I just took it for granted. I I didn't know anything else. I mean, it was just like, yeah, the 80s and 90s was incredible. But I just took it for granted. I mean, going to see Ghostbusters for the first time or Back to the Future or playing Super Mario Brothers for the first time, you just take it all for granted. You just you don't realize that you were living in a golden time. And you didn't you just didn't know that. The first time I saw Big Trouble in Little China for the first time, I didn't realize I'd be that would be one of my, you know, favorite movies of all time.

[00:05:15]Or my dad would take me to see ET. It's it's it's amazing that I didn't live in the moment. Yes, you're you're younger and you don't do that. I get that more than anything. But boy oh boy I didn't realize the times that I was living in. And the times were pretty extraordinary.

[00:05:33]And I wish I could have been more present to say, this is really special.

[00:05:37]This is really special. But I don't I don't think anybody really does that, do they? You just kind of, you know, things are happening, and and I think I think what it is is nowadays, I'm really in the moment. Like I took my daughter to see the Mario Galaxy movie a bunch of days ago now, and we were sitting there, and you know, I had my Mario cap on, and she had a little Luigi hat on. It was so cute. And we were watching the movie, and I don't normally say things like this, but I will.

[00:06:05]When we were sitting and watching the movie, she's eating the popcorn, and we had these little mini eggs, and and it wasn't even about the movie. It was about the moment and the experience with my daughter. I just I started to get tearing up. I started getting really, really emotional. I was like and I even said to myself, I'm like, it doesn't get better than this. This is the best moment in my entire life. The the the this kind of moment right now is the best moment in my life, and I'm very present for it now, where I wasn't in the past. And I think having a child has really opened up my eyes to that. And I'm you know, I'm not preaching to anybody if you should have children or not or whatever you should do. I said, for me personally, it's really changed my life for the better, and it's just been oh my god, it's opened my eyes up to the world in a way that it never has before. And uh it's been really, really something else and really, really amazing. And I wonder if I can go through here. No, I don't think I can.

[00:06:59]But this is an amazing forest. I got to say, this is like just wild.

[00:07:04]It's it's it's so like gigantic. It's like it's cool. I mean, this is this is the the kind of forest that you really want to walk through. I haven't I haven't been in a forest like this for a long time. And I love it. I mean they're a dime a dozen in Vancouver. You can take it for granted. But I mean you compare to living in a desert, I mean, this is this is just unreal. I'll tell you that much.

[00:07:27]Okay, so I had the serious ones going on there for a little bit, right? The the the serious moments of of my regrets.

[00:07:33]Here's a here's a funny regret. I won't even say it's funny. It kind of is serious to me. Do you know what I really regret?

[00:07:39]You know what I really I think about a bunch of times these days.

[00:07:44]I wish in my early 20s when I started being friends with Rob again, you know, or being friends with him for the really for the first time because he was my friend's brother at that point. When me and Rob started to hang out and with some other friends of ours, and we seemed to it's just that the time period we had a lot of time on our hands.

[00:08:02]I wish for everything. I know this sounds so funny.

[00:08:06]I wish we had played Dungeons and Dragons.

[00:08:10]But I had such a weird ego back then that I thought I was beyond that at that point. I'm like, ah, no, it's a super nerdy thing. I don't want to be doing anything like that. And I wish for everything that I could go back in time and could say, guys, we have all these you know, we have all this time. Let's play D&D and really get into it and really make a big campaign and really go all go all for it. But I didn't. And that's a regret I have. I know it's a funny one. But I And you know, I think what it is is when you get older, all of a sudden you can't get your friends around the same. You know, for me to organize a D&D game nowadays is like impossible. It's like impossible. Like, it's like I remember I'd get like four people all together, and then all of a sudden one person would drop out, and that would be the end of that. And it would oh my god, the amount of D&D games I've set up that have failed. I mean, yeah, I mean, I I remember there was one of my birthday oh god maybe about six year five, six years ago.

[00:09:07]And all I wanted to do was DM.

[00:09:10]You know, on my birthday, that's all I wanted to do was play game. Could I make it happen? Absolutely not. It all fell apart like instantaneously.

[00:09:18]Yeah, it's funny when you get older, it's hard to get your friends around.

[00:09:20]And as I say, you only hang out with a few of your friends at a time. You don't hang out with a lot of people. You know, it's just it's just what happens. You just hang out with your family. And that's that's realistically all you want to hang out with, to be honest with you.

[00:09:33]Um but I have I have Dungeons and Dragons regrets from back then. And some of the times we could have had um we we spent all our time playing video games. And >> [laughter] >> in my basement back then. And and that was fun, but that would have been really, really would have been really, really great. Here, listen, I'm just going to show you a little bit of here.

[00:09:53]Look at this. Isn't this Look at this. Isn't this just picture perfect? I mean, it's awesome.

[00:10:01]It's just This is just incredible.

[00:10:07]Yeah, it's just incredible. And this is what I you know I'm talking about as well. I'm trying to be in the present moment. I'm trying to be in the present moment. And um You know, I >> [sighs] >> I know I mentioned before, but you know, I did a video saying you know like you know my my life has changed and and it had when Billy passed away. And I think about Billy still all the time.

[00:10:29]All the time. And I I guess what it is is with him passing away, it's made me embrace life even more of how lucky you know, I am we all are to be here.

[00:10:41]It's like it's it's it's just wonderful.

[00:10:44]It's just amazing. Like look at this.

[00:10:46]Look at this.

[00:10:48]This beautiful little stream right there.

[00:10:51]You know, isn't that that's just so amazing.

[00:10:56]You know, I sometimes play video games.

[00:10:59]You know, cuz I want to have that um exploration feel. But sometimes just go for a walk. Walk around your neighborhood. Uh you know, walk just go for a nice walk into a little foresty area like this and it gives you a lot of energy. And um yeah, I'm always whenever I do these blogs, I don't know what it is. I'm always thinking about Billy.

[00:11:20]And I and I always think about Billy's family and and I just feel so so so terrible about it all. I do. And um and I so it makes me you know, hold on to these moments a little bit more.

[00:11:35]Yeah.

[00:11:36]Let's do a little hike up here and you know, let's just wander into the forest a little bit more.

[00:11:41]Just get kind of lost in it. That sounds good to me.

[00:11:45]Uh yeah, you know, I I've mentioned uh this before. I think it may be in live streams I've talked about it or something like that, but the other regret I have is um I wish I could do my life again. So I could um I could have more children.

[00:12:02]But at the same time, it's not how it works out. You know, I feel very lucky to have one. I was very lucky to meet Kim. And to first to have one, I mean is is is a gift. But if I could do it all over again, I I would have more children because it it brings such brings me such pleasure. Uh and it makes me feel so fulfilled. And I think what it is is I was talking to another friend of mine about it.

[00:12:24]Is like in Christmas, you remember when you were a kid? This is funny. And it's Chris it's you know, coming up to Christmas and your parents would say things like, you know, it's better to give than receive. And as a kid you're like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. But secretly you're like, oh no, I I love getting the presents, you know. Where when you have children, >> [sighs] >> giving is the greatest thing ever. Like on Easter, getting my you know, daughter all her chocolates or you know, on Christmas getting her presents. It's it's it's the greatest thing ever. It makes me feel so good. Taking her to see the Super Mario Galaxy movie dressed as Mario. It's uh it's it's just it's just a wonderful thing.

[00:13:03]And uh I love that feeling. I I love that I guess what it is is I love the high of you know, getting rid of your selfish side and giving to somebody else.

[00:13:15]Uh and making somebody else happy and creating a good childhood and creating an environment where they can flourish and and you know, be creative and funny and silly. And um that's like I think that's the only legacy that I'd like to leave. It's not a legacy of a show on YouTube talking about video games. It My legacy is my my child growing up saying, you know what?

[00:13:39]My dad is a good you know, a great guy who who loved me.

[00:13:43]And he cared about me. And he did a lot of great things for me. That's what my legacy I want it to be. That's the most important thing in the world to me.

[00:13:54]And that's the only thing that I think about these days. Like hey, listen to me. Don't get me wrong. I love playing video games and I love doing the show. Like it's so cool. It's the coolest thing ever.

[00:14:05]Um But it's funny.

[00:14:09]It's not that my priorities have ever changed.

[00:14:11]You know, I never just thought like making a YouTube show was like the be all end all of my life. I never thought that.

[00:14:19]You know, especially when I met Kim.

[00:14:21]And I you know, I I I hit the jackpot with Kim. I've I've often said this. And some of my friends say that to me too.

[00:14:27]Um and I certainly did and I certainly am thankful for that. But when Kim came into my came into my life, I knew that yeah, I mean [sighs] that she was like the priority big time.

[00:14:40]And then when we created a little girl, she became the priority too. And um it's just it's just interesting the shifts and changes in your life. And so I don't I don't regret anything that I've done with with Kim and my daughter. Everything I've done has been for the good with them.

[00:14:59]And uh yeah, it's been great.

[00:15:03]And that's been a little bit of a hike for me, that's for sure. Uh this is this is a great forest. Oh my god, I've had such a great time here. Such a great time. There's just so much to check out.

[00:15:13]I I want to go straight back into it to be honest with you. It's too good. But I mean yeah.

[00:15:19]I hope you guys have enjoyed the vlogs.

[00:15:21]I mean, it's just it's been very therapeutic for me.

[00:15:24]It's just been something where I can just kind of talk.

[00:15:30]I don't know. It isn't It doesn't be like, hey, welcome back to another episode. Today's episode we're talking about this game. I can uh so talk about some philosophies. And I think I think what that is that's when you get into your 50s, you become a little bit more philosophical. And a little bit you have you kind of look at your life as a as a whole. And you can kind of see where you were all the different sections of it.

[00:15:52]And you're like, oh yes, I I made some mistakes. I did a lot of things stupidly here. You know, I treated somebody wrong here.

[00:16:00]And I think 50s is is a a way of kind of of sorting through that and trying to maybe the best version of yourself you can be. That you can be, right? I mean, we're none of us are perfect. And that's a big I think that's the the biggest lesson is that none of us are perfect. Uh we we we try to be. We aspire to be, but we fall short at times.

[00:16:34]Anyways, guys, this is my little vlog that I wanted to do today. And I don't know how long this is.

[00:16:39]I don't know. Sometimes I just get I start rambling and I'm like, where am I?

[00:16:43]What am I saying? Where have I been? Oh my gosh, it's just kind of one of those things. But uh a beautiful morning to go for a walk. [music] And I will definitely be be back here. This place is just I mean, you can just feel the energy in the air, the electricity. And I also think it's because I've I live in Vancouver and it rains like 6 7 months out of the year. So when you can get back to this, God, you feel it even 10,000 times more, you know. So Anyways, guys, until next time.