I think this is a great question — one that I don’t have a solid answer to. I think there will always be a fear about what you might miss. You can’t eliminate the uncertain possibilities of what isn’t known (maybe this is why hindsight is 20/20).

What I come back to for this question, personally, is that you can only control certain things and to get caught up in worry is not only a less productive use of time and energy (you spend a lot of time letting worry take up your headspace), you can’t control whether something could have been the next big thing. You can only control what you do with what you have decided to say yes to.

What I want to be true is that whatever you say yes to, you are capable of entering into that thing with such intentionality and skill to make it be the best it can be. Most success (however you personally define it) isn’t getting caught up in the luck of the universe — if so, your life would be about constantly guessing where the stars are going to align. Rather, it might be investing yourself into something, being okay with average, and allowing yourself to make it the best it can be. That contentment, that focus on what you can control while not being dependent on what you can’t control, and the wisdom to be okay with wherever you are (and not have your life’s meaning come from something external), might be the best way to approach this stuff.

I’ve had to think of it as “interiors vs. exteriors” — I accept the exteriors as they come, engaging with them the best I can, but I focus on the interiors.

Thanks for this question — it is healthy for me to process this, as well.