There have been many versions of this poem. The one I was most familiar with is attributed to Nadine Stair. It appears first. What follows is, according to Benjamin Rossen, a copy of the earliest verifiable publication of this material. It can be found in the Reader's Digest, October 1953 issue, where it was attributed to Don Herold (1889-1966), author and humorist.
If I Had My Life Over - I'd Pick More Daisies
Nadine Stair
If I had my life to live over, I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.
You see, I'm one of those people who lived sensibly and sanely, hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have.
If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies.
Don Herold
Of course, you can't unfry an egg, but there is no law against thinking about it.
If I had my life to live over, I would try to make more mistakes. I would relax. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I know of very few things that I would take seriously. I would be less hygienic. I would go more places. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less bran.
I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary troubles. You see, I have been one of those fellows who live prudently and sanely, hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I have had my moments. But if I had it to do over again, I would have more of them - a lot more. I never go anywhere without a thermometer, a gargle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had it to do over, I would travel lighter.
It may be too late to unteach an old dog old tricks, but perhaps a word from the unwise may be of benefit to a coming generation. It may help them to fall into some of the pitfalls I have avoided.
If I had my life to live over, I would pay less attention to people who teach tension. In a world of specialization we naturally have a superabundance of individuals who cry at us to be serious about their individual specialty. They tell us we must learn Latin or History; otherwise we will be disgraced and ruined and flunked and failed. After a dozen or so of these protagonists have worked on a young mind, they are apt to leave it in hard knots for life. I wish they had sold me Latin and History as a lark.
I would seek out more teachers who inspire relaxation and fun. I had a few of them, fortunately, and I figure it was they who kept me from going entirely to the dogs. From them I learned how to gather what few scraggly daisies I have gathered along life's cindery pathway.
If I had my life to live over, I would start barefooted a little earlier in the spring and stay that way a little later in the fall. I would play hooky more. I would shoot more paper wads at my teachers. I would have more dogs. I would keep later hours. I'd have more sweethearts. I would fish more. I would go to more circuses. I would go to more dances. I would ride on more merry-go-rounds. I would be carefree as long as I could, or at least until I got some care- instead of having my cares in advance.
More errors are made solemnly than in fun. The rubs of family life come in moments of intense seriousness rather that in moments of light-heartedness. If nations - to magnify my point - declared international carnivals instead of international war, how much better that would be!
G.K. Chesterton once said, "A characteristic of the great saints is their power of levity. Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly. One 'settles down' into a sort of selfish seriousness; but one has to rise to a gay self-forgetfulness. A man falls into a 'brown study'; he reaches up at a blue sky."
In a world in which practically everybody else seems to be consecrated to the gravity of the situation, I would rise to glorify the levity of the situation. For I agree with Will Durant that "gaiety is wiser than wisdom."
I doubt, however, that I'll do much damage with my creed. The opposition is too strong. There are too many serious people trying to get everybody else to be too darned serious.
I am trying very hard to embrace these philosophies as chaos encroaches on my life! Today I signed my mortgage papers. That is the single biggest thing I have ever done in my life. I hate banks, I hate anything financial or official - it terrifies me. I literally felt sick to my stomach today in that little cubicle surrounded by my signatures. It certainly drove home how far I have come in one year. I think I almost understood what they were talking about.
In many ways it certainly made me feel very alone. A very different experience from buying my first house. Then I didn't have to know anything about prime rates, percentages, flexible rates, fixed rates, amortization......all I had to do was sign my name and look forward to a bright, rosy future. Well, almost.
Now, I am signing my name and again looking forward to a bright rosy future. A different kind of future, one that doesn't hinge on anything except my willingness to make it happen. Now I am an active participant, a driving force in what happens in my life. I am no longer sitting back and letting things happen to me. I am making them happen for me. Necessity makes the most unlikely heroes...(not that I consider myself heroic!)...but my goodness, what a radical makeover has taken place in one little year. She who didn't know how to write a cheque or pay a bill just bought a house!
With regards to the above quotations, I feel like I have been given a second chance. I am starting my life over. I have learned some (hard) lessons, but hopefully have managed to keep that optimistic, whimsical, somewhat eccentric part of my soul burning. I try not to feel too bitter in those (now more infrequent) moments when I think about what I lost. Those moments are rare now, because I am busy thinking about what I have gained. I doubt if I could ever go back to the kind of life I led, head in the sand, oblivious to so many things, so willing to give up myself for something that didn't really exist.
Now I am going to pick bouquet after bouquet of daisies!
) 
Crown mouldings and ceiling medallions beckon. Unfinished wood cabinets beg to be stained. I have to rein in temptation and wait until I actually get in the house and see it empty before I begin this new life project. I feel a new and welcome surge of creativity as I look at the rainbow of colours and possibilities. 
I'm looking at the housewares. I've actually been thinking seriously about buying power tools! Me, the woman who can barely hammer a nail in the wall without inflicting serious damage on either myself or the wall. I saw a magazine called "Woodworking for Women" but did manage to restrain myself. I figure I'll wait until I get some tools...and some wood to work upon.
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