The notion that you could have done this awesome feat or that dazzling deed—WHO CARES?  I say pick something cool, apply consistent discipline, and use the experience to dissolve your weaknesses and shore up your strength.  In short, use adversity to hone yourself at the deepest levels.  As far as the romanticism of warrior/artist/businessman/spiritualist/etc…they’re just fleeting masks for something deeper.  

Ideally, I believe a trained spirit can put on one mask just as easily as the next (Musashi knows what I’m talking about).