Reader's question: We can't afford to waste tears on "might-have-beens",we need to turn the tears into sweat as we go after "what-can-be". Could you explain “might-have-beens”?

My comments:

Might-have-beens represent what might have happened in the past. For example, had you been born a son to the emperor, you might have been made an emperor yourself.

In short, what might have been did not happen. What might have been is not real. It’s not what’s in your control. Don’t fret over it. Fret, if you insist on fretting, over what you can control instead. That is, wipe off your tears over the might-have-beens and focus on the jobs at hand – or the what-can-bes, as suggested in the above example.

And if you do that, there’ll be all cheers and no tears.

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本文仅代表作者本人观点，与本网立场无关。欢迎大家讨论学术问题，尊重他人，禁止人身攻击和发布一切违反国家现行法律法规的内容。

Zhang Xin has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.