We don't get a 'do over' for life

When we are little we want to grow up and be a policeman/fireman/doctor/teacher/nurse/president/astronaut/professional athlete. Then as we get older we want to go live in the woods and become vegetarians/paint on the beach in Tahiti/save the world and have all sorts of idealistic rose colored glasses filled dreams. Maybe next you want to get rich so you can live the easy life in a nice house with nice cars, etc.

At some point you go to college, get a job, date, marry, children, etc. But then life starts to interfere. Maybe you don't get married until later. Or marry a jerk and then marry the right person later on. Or you never get rich. Or you don't get recruited out of college for the team of your dreams. Or you have children and are struggling as a single parent. Or find your college major will not help you get the job of your dreams. Or your health interferes.

At some point you realize your dreams are not all going to come true. You are not living on a beach in Tahiti and you aren't a millionaire. You aren't married with children. Are you filled with regrets? You shouldn't be or you need to learn not to be.

If I had a preference I would not have gotten cancer twice, maybe I would be richer, maybe I would be a size 6, 5'7" physically fit person who never has to work out and could eat chocolate and ice cream three times a day. Yeah, right.

Life is about learning to adapt. We all have a bit of Darwin in us as we learn to roll with the punches.
We do not get a 'do over' for life. We are stuck with how our cards are dealt. We need to learn to roll with the punches to thrive and survive. And still eat chocolate every day.