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When I was younger, I longed for certain women that way. Pangs of young lust confused for love, and all that. It was obviously bearable, because I bore it. But it was unpleasant. The concept of longing involves wishing fervently for something you don't have -- it's an emotional incompleteness, a powerful wish to be somewhere other than where you are. Longing is a "between" state, then: you either obtain what you long for, or give up; either way, longing ends. It's not supposed to be a life-long thing, and you're going to be very miserable -- and frankly, a stunted personality -- if it is.
To miss something that's gone, to remember an absent friend or lover wistfully, to wish that things had happened differently -- that's something else. That's introspection -- comparing what you wanted to happen, with what did happen. You can learn from that. Sadness, coupled with the willingness to adapt and face the future, is a very powerful and healthy emotion.
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