Tragic

I realized that most of us see "Tragedy" as something that happens suddenly and rips into our lives in such a way that it is labeled as "tragic", but another form of tragedy can simply be an un-lived life. The person who either spends their life struggling with their inner demons without ever conquering them, or the person who avoids the struggle altogether and loses themselves in some activity or lifestyle and never even scratches the surface of their life's potential.

That, to me, may be the greatest tragedy. I can find many examples, but one came to mind about a man they called, "Burro" Schmidt, who spent almost his entire life digging a tunnel through Copper Mountain. http://burroschmidttunnel.org/burroschmidt.html
I can't imagine that upon his death, he felt satisfied with the path he chose for his life. Although he actually finished the tunnel and saw daylight, this "success" was for nothing. He didn't do anything with it. I feel like this is tragic and that there must be a level of inner tragedy that this man dealt with.

The same can be said for the drug addict that never gets clean, or the lonely housewife who loses herself in her family and has a life overshadowed with guilt, resentment and "what-ifs". This can be true for the ones who stifle their artistic creativity out of fear or feeling obligated to conform to a more "realistic" idea of how to live. Or the workaholic who spends their life chasing money and material possessions to later realize they are dying alone and unhappy, wishing that they did things differently.

I don't remember who said it, but I believe the quote is, "Don't be afraid of dying, be afraid of the unlived life."