What are you wistful you will never do, be or see?

[CoddlingMolly]

It's hard to explain what I mean but I'll try!

One relating to the future...I feel sad that I won't be around when humans inevitably connect with some other form of life or some incredible space discovery.

There's one regret I have about the past...That I wasn't around for the hippie era.

One that's kind of odd and I can't put my finger on why I feel like this but...I was a teenager in the late 90s/early 2000s and I always had this weird regret that I couldn't ever experience being an American high school kid or going to an American college. Nit sure why but that's really strongly connected to that era and my age then.

Just wondering whether anyone else gets these wistful thoughts!

I was just thinking today that it was a shame that I never got to see Freddie Mercury or Tina Turner live.

What I regret is:
Staying emotionally damaged for so long after getting out of an abusive relationship. I've been 100% single since then - just over 21 years ago. I just never trusted myself after that and promised I'd never put myself or my kids through anything like it again.

Not having the ability to travel/backpack when I was young - I was a single Mum at 18. DD's male biological parent (he's' never been her "Dad") walked away when I was pregnant. Fibro means it's off the cards forever now.

Will never be skinny and will likely never travel the world.

I’m sad that I’ll probably never move back to the UK permanently, because my family don’t seem to want to (and I don’t want live on a different continent to them). Perhaps one of them might, one day. 🤞

St Petersburg. I was supposed to be going in 2020...

never climb K2.

I am sad I will never be pregnant again and have another child. I am lucky that I have my one miracle and wish I could have given him siblings.

Well, I have been to Russia and it was v interesting, unlikely now I will ever go back.

I regret not being braver finding my birth mum, she’s probably dead by now.

I will never be an astronaut

Felt what labour is like - 2 medically necessary c-sections.

That I'll never ever, even for a moment. be free of pain.

That I let "the one" go. And that I'll never be a mum.

Same. ☹️ Damn you, Vlad. 😡

Sending strength and empathy your way, from another chronic pain sufferer. It's so hard at times, I know.

I will never be a ballerina

OP, I recently attended a lecture about the search for exoplanets, and the researcher who gave the lecture was optimistic about the chance of finding life on exoplanets or moons, since there have been recent discoveries of Earth-like exoplanets. Although alien life will probably be less like humans and more like bacteria (https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/search-for-life/can-we-find-life/).

And it's interesting to see how many people are mentioning wanting to visit Russia. My brother died last year, and our shared hobby is/was learning languages. When he was a teenager, he wanted to learn Russian and take the train across Siberia, so I'm sad for him that he'll never get the chance to do that. (Among many other things - like he never had kids, and so I'll never be an aunt). I'm now working on the Russian Duolingo course on his behalf.

There's lots of countries I'd like to see but don't think I'll be able to due to finances. I could change my financial situation to earn more but running a house as a single person isn't cheap.

Isn't all just a TV version of those things. In reality, my friend said High School was awful and nothing like depicted. A bit like social media it's a glossy fun view, not reality.

💐

To me its always seemed narcissistic of us to think that out of all these infinite galaxies, we would be the only form of life/society. I'm not saying I expect to see little green men but surely there will be whole forms of existence. Maybe we would not be able to identify them though as maybe they cant be perceived with our five senses.

I also have some wistful thoughts on jobs/lives.
I won't ever be that young high flying thing in the buzz of it all in the City or somewhere.
Because of how my family is, I won't ever be that woman who has all her extended family around her in one town. I would have liked to have been born and bred on say Bristol and have all my siblings, aunts and uncles just a bus ride away....Meet them down the pub on a Friday....Drop in for tea...That won't ever be the case.

That I will never have a conversation with my severely learning disabled daughter. She will never have a relationship or friends. Sad rather than wistful. I'd give everything for her to have a relatively 'normal', healthy life.

Wistful that I'll never feel passion again.

Married 30 years to someone I get on with, who's a decent bloke but not interested in sex (or maybe just not into me sexually, hard to say).

I've thought about leaving many times but when I weigh it up I don't think it's worth blowing the rest of my life up for, especially when there's no guarantee I'll find it elsewhere.

The American thing for me too!

I'm the underachiever of my family, and also settled young. I often wonder what my life would be like if I'd pushed myself to my full potential and married someone else (two separate issues I know). Just had a "nicer" life, I suppose. Nothing wrong with the one I've got, but I could have done so much better.

I've always wanted a house in the middle of nowhere with lots of land around me, which isn't really achievable for someone at my level in the UK. Again, if I lived in America then it would probably be easy! Oh, to have their space and natural environment.

I also wish I was more attractive and naturally slim. Yes I am shallow!

That I wasn’t in my early 20s in the 1970s when living in London wasn’t the expensive dream it is now. That when I did move to the SE that I hadn’t got made redundant and had to move back ‘home’ - hate it here but no chance I’ll ever be able to afford to move back down south now.

That I never flew Concorde, I probably wouldn’t have been able to afford it but I’d have loved to just once….and I hate flying!

I'd always wanted to go to Japan ... but then I learned about how environmentally damaging flights are, and decided never to go. I'll always be sad about it.

Some things like travel the world in a camper van, not technically impossible, but realistically highly unlikely.

However I suppose one would be feeling like I truly belong in one place. As someone of mixed cultural background, with relatives in 4/5 different countries, I sometimes imagine what it would be like to be, or at least believe yourself to be100 % something. I always feel like I belong in multiple worlds.

I'm the same, it feels like you're always on edge and living out of a bag to go and see the people you care about. My heart is constantly torn

So many places I won’t see, or see again.
I’m nostalgic for my youth.
I’m sad that I won’t know all the advances that will be made.
Sad that I won’t see my youngest grandson.

So many things, but so many to be grateful for.