Regret

Right now I can dream big,

Fantasizing about the perfect house,

The perfect job, the perfect family,

The perfect life I'd like to have when I grow up.

The possibilities are endless,

I can dream about all the things I'd like to do,

All the things I'd like to have,

All the ways I'd like to change.

I can make these fantasies,

Trick myself into thinking they are real,

Going from "Maybe I'll get rich,"

To, "When I win the lottery…"

Building hopes for myself,

Both possible and unrealistic.

I can wonder endlessly

About all the possibilities,

All the opportunities,

I can explore 'what-ifs' to my heart's content

Imagining my grown up life.

Once I'm an adult,

Gone are the fantasies,

No more can I sit and wonder.

By then all the decisions have been made,

And I can't change them.

By then I already know what my career must be,

The type of life I will live.

And all that is left is regret,

That I never got all the things I expected.