# That one dream you never got to do - and likely never will

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-dream-you-never-got-to-do-and-likely-never-will/652514>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 10, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-dream-you-never-got-to-do-and-likely-never-will/652514 "2013-03-10T01:16:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-dream-you-never-got-to-do-and-likely-never-will/652514/61 "2013-03-16T18:16:05Z")

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There are a handful of things I’d love to do and haven’t done yet, but the only one I’m pretty sure it’s too late for is being a good gymnast.

I think I could’ve been decent at it, if I’d started thirty years ago, or even fifteen. I’ve always been flexible, agile, good balance, good physical courage, I was good at ballet and the fancy somersaults in trampolining. And I always wanted to do gymnastics - I love love love watching it, it makes me want to go try teaching myself to backflip in our back garden the way I did when I was a kid - but for one reason and another I never took a class. I can do cartwheels and roundoffs, but that’s it. And now I’m in my late thirties, I’m pretty sure that’s as far as it’s gonna go.

Oh, one more: when I was younger I desperately wanted to play Eponine in Les Mis. That feels a bit different, though, because it was never going to happen - I don’t have the voice - so I don’t feel like it’s something I missed out on.

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**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-dream-you-never-got-to-do-and-likely-never-will/652514/62 "2013-03-16T20:00:44Z")

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> [@snowthx](#):
>
> Keep the dream alive!! But, skip the cupcake craze, as they are going the way of Krispy Kreme.

Thanks! I saw a commercial, I can’t remember what for, where it talks about people don’t always peak in their 20s. One of the examples was Julia Child didn’t become a chef until age 51. 🙂

I like making cheesecakes better than cupcakes anyways, maybe start a new trend?

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**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-dream-you-never-got-to-do-and-likely-never-will/652514/63 "2013-03-17T05:38:17Z")

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I wish I had done better with my children.  
My daughter is dead.  
I am dead to my son.

For me, I just wanted to matter.

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**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-dream-you-never-got-to-do-and-likely-never-will/652514/64 "2013-03-28T23:22:35Z")

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> [@cwthree](#):
>
> Med school. Bodies and how they work fascinate me. My parents nagged me to go into some kind of science, but the also convinced me that being a doctor was absolutely out of the question - too expensive, too much work, too much discipline, etc.
> 
> I tell myself that I’m probably quite a bit happier now than I would have been had I taken that route, but I’ll never know. I’m 45 now, and even if I thought I still had the time, there’s no way I’d take on that kind of debt now.

One of the guys in my med school class was like 55 years old. Even if you don’t actually want to do it now, maybe it helps to know you could if you really wanted to? 🙂

Honestly, though, you’re right that it would not have necessarily made you happier. Med school is very stressful, it can take a toll on your relationships, the debt is staggering, and there are definitely times when I question if it was worth it.

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