Erin O'Connor: What disappointment has stayed with you longest?

The question

What disappointment has stayed with you longest?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

This exact question recurs in The Guardian's institutional Q&A pool.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Erin O'Connor

English model

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Not becoming a ballerina.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 March 2008 source ↗

Others on this question

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George H. W. Bush 41st President of the United States, 1989–1993

When I lost a race for the United States Senate, I thought the world was going to end for me politically, and 18 years later I was elected President of the United States. The biggest disappointment was that I wasn't able to communicate properly to the American people — with the proper conviction and the proper ability — where the country really stood. The pessimists, the naysayers, the change-wanters overwhelmed me, and I wasn't good enough. I wasn't articulate enough to have the country understand that we weren't in a recession, that we were in a rather booming economy in the last half of my presidency. That was a personal shortcoming, a failure on my path.

Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, Williamsburg, Virginia, 2 June 1995 source ↗

Tom Allen British comedian

Not understanding myself until I was in my 30s.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 November 2023 source ↗

Speech Debelle Musical artist

Not doing further education.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 November 2009 source ↗

Philip Glass American composer

I don't know. I was lucky; I was able to study with the people I wanted to, be friends with the people I wanted to and in the end I've been able to make a living the way I wanted to.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 November 2008 source ↗