“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” Epictetus
He wasn’t 6’8”. He couldn’t dunk. But he knew how to move a ball around from playing soccer as a kid, so he further developed that skill. And Steve Nash won two MVPs in the NBA and is regarded as one of the greatest point guards in history. He used what he had, all 178 pounds of it.
She wanted to be a dentist. But she didn’t have the grades. She eventually fell into poverty, and wrote a tale about a boy wizard living below the staircase. JK Rowling later gave away hundreds of millions of dollars, including to Make a Child Smile.
Maybe your dream was crushed by an injury preventing you from competing at the highest levels and all the rewards that go with it. Do you still have the mindset that brought you to the heights? That desire, that focus on the details, the relentless pursuit of excellence is still within you, looking for a different game to play. Bemoan not the lost opportunity, but rejoice in the ability to transfer those skills to a new arena.
Boss is disrespecting you and sabotaging your advancement? Keep investing in yourself and take your talents elsewhere.
Broken hearted over that person that you crushed on and they crushed your hopes out like a cigarette on the sidewalk beneath their heel? You still have the things that made you attractive (your personality, your appreciation of beauty, your skills, your empathy, etc.). Mourn not their loss (because if you are a good person, it is THEIR loss) but celebrate the ways they made you better and keep becoming the best version of you and all that it will bring.
Use what you have and maximize it and it doesn’t matter what you don’t have, because you are more than enough.