Life can be weird and you never know what twist and turns it has in store for you. I (39M) let my stutter dictate my life when I graduated high school. Looking back 20 years later I can objectively say that my decision to let my stutter control my life was probably not good. I waited to go to college, when I did I just meandered and got a pointless degree and racked up debt, and failed to start a career. But here’s the weird the part, or the kicker if you will. Had I not made that decision and went with my original plan of going to college right out of high school and getting a good degree, I would never have met my wife. And the fact that I met her still blows my mind to this day. Had I not waited to go to college, he I not gotten a pointless degree, our paths simply would never have crossed. I may not have achieved the “good” career, but I helped her get one. I couldn’t imagine my life without her, or our dog who we got together and has brought us so much happiness for a decade now. So I guess what I’m trying to say is, there’s always hope, even if you make a bad decision in the moment. But I’m 39, been with my wife for 14 years, we have a combined decent middle class income, and I’ve most certainly lived a positive life, despite my stutter (which can still kick my ass, but not as bad as when I was younger).