"I'm not sure what the future holds but I do know that I'm going to be positive and not wake up feeling desperate. As my dad said, 'Nic, it is what it is, it's not what it should have been, not what it could have been, it is what it is'"
About this Quote
The dad quote does the heavy lifting. “It is what it is” is usually tossed off as resignation, but her version layers it with two explicit ghosts: “not what it should have been, not what it could have been.” She names the alternate timelines before shutting the door on them. The subtext is grief management: you’re allowed to recognize disappointment and lost possibility, but you can’t rent space there. It’s stoicism made practical, not philosophical.
Context matters: Kidman has navigated tabloid scrutiny, career reinvention, and personal upheaval in full view. The appeal of this mantra isn’t that it’s profound; it’s that it’s usable. It offers a script for confronting reality without romanticizing it, and for moving forward without pretending you’re unscarred. In a culture addicted to both reinvention narratives and doomscroll panic, she’s modeling a third posture: clear-eyed acceptance as a starting line, not an endpoint.
Quote Details
| Topic | Optimism |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Kidman, Nicole. (2026, February 17). I'm not sure what the future holds but I do know that I'm going to be positive and not wake up feeling desperate. As my dad said, 'Nic, it is what it is, it's not what it should have been, not what it could have been, it is what it is'. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-not-sure-what-the-future-holds-but-i-do-know-93652/
Chicago Style
Kidman, Nicole. "I'm not sure what the future holds but I do know that I'm going to be positive and not wake up feeling desperate. As my dad said, 'Nic, it is what it is, it's not what it should have been, not what it could have been, it is what it is'." FixQuotes. February 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-not-sure-what-the-future-holds-but-i-do-know-93652/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I'm not sure what the future holds but I do know that I'm going to be positive and not wake up feeling desperate. As my dad said, 'Nic, it is what it is, it's not what it should have been, not what it could have been, it is what it is'." FixQuotes, 17 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-not-sure-what-the-future-holds-but-i-do-know-93652/. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.











