I question whether the author's story about their mother's farm stand is really about unled lives in the past sense. They seem to be telling a cautionary tale a

I question whether the author's story about their mother's farm stand is really about unled lives in the past sense. They seem to be telling a cautionary tale about it but his mother was trying to change her future life in the present. I don't think that warning about dwelling on possible past lives and suggesting you shouldn't make changes in your current life are the same thing. Probably relatedly though, I never really think about how things could have been and yet I am haunted by disatissfaction (despite having a great life) and always looking for how I'll change myself or my situation (work mostly) going forward. Maybe these are two views on the same neurosis.