"I wish I had..... "

When I first knew, I was going to move countries, I talked about it quite a lot.

In the meantime, my friends and I would go out, and quite often people would have this little flicker of admiration when I told them.

I remember one night particularly clearly.

A bouncer looked me straight in the eye and said:

“Make sure you do it, because I wish I had.”

I heard words like that so many times.

“I wish I had.”
“I regret not doing it.”

And what struck me wasn’t that everyone secretly wanted to leave their country. I’m sure they didn’t.
I think what they were really saying was:
“There is something I once wanted to do too.”
Maybe it was travelling.
Maybe changing careers.
Maybe starting something.
Maybe leaving something behind.
Maybe simply doing something they had always told themselves they would do one day.

And that fascinated me. Because how many of us carry an “I wish I had…” story of our own?

We often think the biggest risk is taking the leap.

But sometimes I wonder whether the bigger risk is looking back years later and realising we never took it.

Not every dream needs to become reality.
And not every change is the right change.

But I do believe there is something worth paying attention to when that quiet voice inside you keeps saying:

“There is more for me.”

Maybe the question isn’t:

“Am I brave enough?”

Maybe it’s:

“What’s actually holding me back?”