Regret

Back in 2010, I was working the night shift in the warehouse of a local pharmacy—just a young guy moving boxes, scanning labels, and stacking shelves. It was the kind of job where time felt like it stood still, and conversations with coworkers were often the only thing keeping the hours moving. One night, during a break, a coworker pulled out his laptop and started talking about something I had never heard of before…..Bitcoin

He explained it with this wild enthusiasm thatthis was digital money, not backed by any government, decentralized, anonymous. He even showed me how he accessed it using the Tor browser. To be honest, at first, it sounded like something out of a sci-fi movie or some internet conspiracy theory. But then he told me what he was using it for: buying mushrooms online. That part made me laugh, but it also made me pause because beneath the surface of his story, I could see the bigger picture. There was something disruptive and revolutionary about it. Even then, I had this sense that it could be much more than just an underground currency.

He told me, “Dude, you should buy some. Even just a thousand bucks could go a long way.” I seriously considered it. At the time, Bitcoin was trading for less than a dollar. I thought about putting in $1,000. I even had the cash. But I hesitated. I didn’t fully understand it. I didn’t have the courage or the vision and so I passed.

That single decision still haunts me.

Fast forward to today: I do own 3 Bitcoin. And I’m grateful for that. But not a day goes by that I don’t think about what that $1,000 would have become. I would’ve been sitting on over $200 million today.

It’s one of those stories you carry with you not just as a regret, but as a reminder. A reminder that the biggest opportunities often don’t come with neon signs. They show up quietly, dressed as risk and uncertainty. And sometimes, all it takes is listening a little closer during a warehouse shift break.