Maggie's Farm

Yeah, but he lives in Paris, writes, and is in that blissful stage of family life when caring for very young kids. When one THINKS life is so hard, but actually life is sweet... We should all have his problems. As GWTW pointed out, the guy will have a lot more regrets when he is older...

IMHO, it's a good idea at 37 to start thinking "what should I do so that I do NOT wake up at 75 regretting the last half of my life..." . Because the years of early parenthood are the ones when one tells oneself to put aside childish things like pursuing dreams, being selfish, doing what one wants, in the perfectly decent interests of being a breadwinner, being responsible, loving a spouse, protecting those darling kiddies. Nothing wrong with those things, but the frog boiling begins. By degrees one abandons the things one once pursued and wakes up when the kids are gone, wandering like a lost soul in the proverbial dark wood Dante conjured up for us...only without guide or poetry

There is an old view of sin as missing the mark. This includes the idea that one has to be constantly re-examining one's conscience to re-calibrate one's behaviour and attitudes so as not to stray from the path God has called one to pursue. A small detour initially can take one further and further astray. Or another view of sin as a virtue taken to extremes. Again, this means one needs to examine where one has been and how one has been doing (obviously, a faith community of people who love you and will kick your butt when you are heading down the wrong path help here) and where one should go. Nobody can exist wholly in the present and stay on course.

And just enjoy the damn chair...