It struck me recently that the closest I come to regretting something in my life is that I didn't have/take that opportunity.
Maybe because these days, every one in my entourage is in the business, and have been all their life. But back where I came from, back in the days, there was no notion of all the various options.
The music industry was made to be seen as black or white - either you were a starving artist, either you were one of the few exceptionally lucky people enough to hit the big time.
I never even knew there were music productions schools until I moved to Montreal in my early 20's. That's also when I started meeting session musicians, people playing the club circuit, others writing jingles and such, and a few guys working for Cirque.
Back home, no one told you that you had other options for a musical career besides teaching music - something which I soon found wasn't for me.
These days in particular, I regularly spend over 12 hours a day reading, practicing, trying to find every little bit of information I can. I go to bed for a few hours only to find myself dreaming that I'm eq'ing stuff all night. Man, I wish I had had a formal training at some point.
We're going home for a few days later this week and the one thing I'm really looking forward to is spending some time in the studio w/ my brother in law to watch him work and maybe learn a few tricks. That and sleeping.