Kathmandu, July 15 -- Have you ever met someone younger and felt a flicker of jealousy, for no clear reason, simply because they were younger? It wasn't that I wanted to be in their position, nor did I envy anything they possessed. It was something quieter and harder to define.

But the more I sat with this thought, the more I wondered: was it jealousy? Or was it something else entirely? Maybe it wasn't envy at all, but a quiet sort of grief. Not the kind that comes with losses and goodbyes, but maybe the kind that settled in the space between who I am now and who I thought I'd be by this point.

Not all grief starts with loss. Occasionally, it stems from unpursued dreams, missed opportunities, or the versions of ourselves we were afraid ...