Looking back it is easy to see the things you should have done differently. The career paths you should have chosen; the advice you should have sought; the opportunities you should have acknowledged. The limitations of the counsel you should have seen. The people you should have trusted. It is OK to grieve the loss of those missed opportunities. Because it is loss. And it is necessary. I used to be amused at the TV trope where people get sad on reading that their favorite actors/ authors/ musicians had died even before they first heard of them. I now see that it at least has some basis in reality. Life is a continuous process of learning. Of understanding yourself and the world around you. As your grasp improves it is easy to look back and blame yourself for the (obvious) situations you mis-assessed and the opportunities you over-looked. But to actually learn from the past you also have to acknowledge the deficiencies of your past self. Because life is a not a summit t...