Agreed.
I've kicked myself a few times for spending the BTC that I had in the early days. I would easily have tens of thousands of dollars today -- easily enough to pay off my student loan using Bitcoin -- if I had held onto those coins.
On the other hand I spent them because I believed in the currency and in the idea of cryptocurrencies in general. I spent them to buy coffee, to buy time on XBox Live, a year of VPN service, and I forget what else. Basically I spent it to show that spending BTC for goods and services was indeed valid and that the currency was a very real thing.
One of the first comments that I ever made about BTC soon after its appearance was that this was the type of currency of the future. If not BTC, I said, then it would be a coin similar to it or based on it. Cryptocurrency is the "cedits" that you see in sci-fi movies, the "money of the future" so to speak. It was an obvious evolution of money.
Boy did I ever hit the nail on the head.
Still, I sure wish that I had held onto a few of those BTC.
Don't beat yourself up over past actions, just learn from your mistakes. You can't wish what was, and Bitcoin couldn't be a currency unless you actually use it sometimes...(same with other crypto.)
I purchased some hotel rooms with BTC when it was worth just a few hundred bucks. I don't mind one bit, because I had a great time in those hotel rooms. ;-)
Keep your eyes out and trust your instincts. This cryptotrain is just getting started. $15k for BTC is nothing...just wait till you see where it goes. (BTC will probably NOT be the highest return from here on out.)
I tend to not beat myself up over it too much, though there will of course always be some amount of regret. Ultimately however I used the currency for a good purpose and helped spur it along in the very early days. People spending the currency (and accepting the currency!) is what helped get it to where it is today.
And other cryptocurrencies have become a thing as a result of the success of Bitcoin. I am currently mining Gridcoin because I love the idea of a cryptocurrency that possesses an inherent value. My GRC wasn't born simply by burning electricity to complete some hash, but rather as the result of completing very real scientific data. This is the coin that I can see (and hope to see) being the next big thing, or something like GRC. Admittedly there is some bias in my saying this.
That said I'd really like to see an unbiased comparison of GRC with similar coins.
Lastly, I apologize for getting back to you so late. Being a newbie on this site I wasn't aware that I had responses.
edit: That was a fun typo, but it had to be fixed.